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Chapter 1 : Master Lee’s Request

When he saw Daylight and the Taoist rushed towards the monster, Liola also focused on the nearby battlefield, in case Daylight lost to the monster and got injured.

“These days, demons have been on a steep increase, could it be an omen of disaster coming from the heavens?” Master Lee twisted his beard, looking worried for the country and its people.

“What he meant was, in the past year, a bunch of random monsters started running amok, and he doesn’t know if he should move the entire monastery to a place deep in the mountains to escape the monsters.” Kaiser turned his head, and explained to Liola.

Liola sank into his thoughts for a moment, “I don’t seem to remember these monsters before.”

“These creatures do not seem like ordinary demons, for they fear neither wooden swords, nor paper talismans or the like.”

Master Lee had already been sporting a long face for some time. Had it not been for Daylight’s and Kaiser’s arrival (mostly the former), their Overlook would probably suffer heavy casualties while dealing with these monsters.

It was then when Master Lee felt thankful his daughter had the foresight to let them stay, although Lee San Niang’s main reason of letting them stay was Baolilong.

“The world of Martial Arts has also been in turmoil, so the Alliance Leader decided to hold a Martial Arts Symposium, so everyone could come together and form a plan against these demons.”

Master Lee sighed in admiration for the Alliance Leader.

“That Alliance-whatchama-call-it took out some trashy sword, and a bunch of idiots risk their lives in the competition. Not to mention afterwards, they still have to break their heads to fight against the monsters. This move is practically the epitome of hiring free labour.” Kaiser grunted in disdain.

[T/N: Martial Arts Symposium is, in Martial Arts novel, often depicted by someone pulling out a famous sword as the reward and then a “friendly” competition to see which faction/person was the strongest. It often ends up being quite a brutal clash between factions and many people die as a result.]

Liola nodded slightly. However blunt Kaiser’s words were, they were direct and accurate. These words also made Master Lee seem a bit hesitant, and it looked like the Alliance Leader’s noble image in his mind had been shaken.

* * *

In the distance, because this green ball of a monster had been too huge, Daylight had convinced the Taoists to leave the battle, and they were watching the battle from the sidelines.

Daylight had commanded Flames back into the form of an enormous Dragon, and he had been circling in the air. Daylight looked like he was trying to figure out where to start. The monster in front of him looked like a giant green ball, and he could not figure out where its weakness was.

Other than rolling around, flattening buildings and leaving behind some sort of poisonous slime, it didn’t seem to do anything else.

“Flames, try using Blaze.”

Daylight commanded Flames, and it circled around towards the green ball.

A stream of fire spit out of its mouth aimed towards the green ball. However, there wasn’t much of a reaction from the green ball, and it continued to roll around. Nevertheless, its body began to warp. Where the fire reached, it was beginning to melt, and the opening seemed to have oozed out a large quantity of green liquid.

Daylight beckoned Flames to stop the fire. He closely examined the green ball: it looked like an apple somebody took a bite out of. It was so juicy, liquid came flowing out of it. The streets were covered in green slime, which forced the Taoists to back up even further.

Daylight frowned as he looked at the terrifying slime. Although this monster could be easily handled, but hitting it would cause its slime to run everywhere. With only one hole in it, it had covered an entire street. If they were to melt the entire green ball, they would probably be sinking in dozens of streets in slime.

‘Master!’

Daylight was shocked, and used telepathy to answer Flames, ‘What’s up?’

‘Its Highness, Baolilong, said its master asked it and me to catch this monster and throw it outside of the city before we melt it.’

Having a solid plan, Daylight felt reinvigorated. After commanding Flames to rendezvous with Baolilong, the two Dragons grabbed ahold of the giant green ball with their four claws, and their four wings flapped vigorously.

The citizens and the Taoists all widened their eyes to look at the unbelievable scene. Although they had already seen the Blue Sea Lancer commanding a demon, they were shocked to see yet another ‘demon’, and this one was even more eye-catching than the previous.

Everyone began to praise and admire, and of course, what was said the most were things like “The Blue Sea Lancer is really true to his name”.

With Baolilong and Flames’ efforts, the giant green ball had been slowly lifted off the surface.

Finally, with a giant flap of those four Dragon wings, the two Dragons soared into the sky with the green ball, and they headed towards the outside of the city. The citizens and the Taoists all cheered, and everyone formed a long line of a tail, following in the direction where the Dragons went.

It wasn’t until that the green ball had been melted into a pile of slime that Daylight returned to the city with Flames.

At this time, the citizens in the city had all gathered at the gate. As soon as they saw Daylight riding Flames, everyone cheered, “Blue Sea Lancer! Blue Sea Lancer!”

Daylight saw the scenery and was stunned. His face was completely red.

Seeing everyone’s cheers, Daylight awkwardly commanded Flames to stop at the city gate, but then everyone rushed up to him and made him feel completely overwhelmed.

He shyly laughed as he answered, “This is something I should do.”

* * *

“… Maintaining justice is something I should do. There is no need to thank me.” Kaiser raised his chest, pretending a steady tone.

Liola tilted his head and glanced at Kaiser’s actions.

“Psh!” As soon as he finished, Kaiser pouted, “I know what that guy is saying by just looking at him.”

Liola suddenly felt something at his leg. He lowered his head, and saw Baolilong had ran back already and tightly held onto his leg. Of course, the White Dragon in the sky was nowhere to be found.

Everyone was busy with Daylight, and no one seemed to have noticed a “demon” was missing.

Daylight, with his long tail of people, walked with smaller Flames back to the Overlook. Helplessness filled his face, probably caused by not knowing what to do with the people following him, especially the one with a bright red outfit and her face was caked in makeup.

She was carrying a couple dozen pictures of girls, and her mouth never stopped moving, boasting a dozen sentences per second. She was what the locals called a “matchmaker”.

Seeing this crowded scene, Kaiser leisurely raised the giant gun from his hips, and then raised it high.

Boom!

As he he fired a shot, successfully shutting up the endless mouths of the matchmakers. The scene went completely quiet, and Kaiser satisfactorily blew the barrel of his gun.

He then announced, “Void, close the doors!”

Void was stunned, but then he obediently walked to the Overlook door, and closed the heavy, wooden doors slowly.

Daylight took the opportunity to duck into the monastery. The matchmaker who was right behind Daylight wanted to come in with him, but Kaiser showed a devil-like smile, and pointed his mysterious weapon at the matchmaker. She got scared and withdrew her foot in the door, fearing the next boom sound would be accompanied by her own screams.

When the sound of the Overlook doors closing reached Daylight’s ears, he sighed in relief. Although he didn’t agree with Kaiser’s method, he couldn’t help but feel thankful to him for getting him out of the mess.

“Hero Daylight is definitely righteous and benevolent.” Master Lee praised, but then said with concern,

“It’s unfortunate we did not ascertain the origin of this demon, and you, Hero Daylight, are about to embark on your journey. I don’t know how many demons my apprentices could hold back, nor do I know if other cities also suffered similar attacks from these demons. They may not be as lucky as us, residents of Sky City, meeting Hero Daylight and company.”

Daylight’s face was also filled with worry, “True, after I’m gone, there isn’t anyone who could protect Sky City. So if those monsters come again, what is everyone going to do?”

As he said so, Daylight’s stare floated over towards Kaiser. He seemed to have been infected by the same habit as Liola. Whenever a problem they couldn’t solve arises, they would turn to the one with the most wicked ideas.

Kaiser rolled his eyes several times, but Daylight used his indomitable will of a Knight, and held Kaiser with his gaze, as if he was saying ‘If you don’t think of something, I’ll never leave’.

Kaiser could no longer bear with Daylight’s stare, and he vented his anger on others, “Damn geezer! What do you want us to do, just say it, stop acting all pretentious!”

Master Lee stroked his beard as he smiled. Other people might see it as a wise laugh, but in Kaiser’s eyes, it was a sinister laugh after an evil man reached his goals!

“I believe that, after Hero Daylight leaves, the Overlook should still be able to withstand attacks for a brief while. I simply hope Hero Daylight could find the source of these demons. As long as the source of these demons is taken care of, the citizens will, naturally, go back to their peaceful lives.”

“So that’s what you meant. I understand.” Daylight nodded. He had already thought of this before, so Master Lee’s request was right on spot.

‘Is this guy addicted to doing unpaid work?’

Veins popped on Kaiser’s head, but he knew, with Daylight’s nature, this was something they couldn’t get away from. Kaiser’s only wish was this journey to find the source of the demons wouldn’t spring off other troubles.

‘Devil Gle, sir, you have to protect your most precious descendant, Kaiser, and bless him with peaceful life in this new world!’

“Also, I hope you can bring Void. On one hand, you can help me train this little runt, and on another, if you do manage to take care of the demons, you could tell Void to come back to report to me.”

As Master Lee finished speaking, Void had an eager look on his face.

For the year they had been here, he had seen Daylight’s strength. Had it not been the fact he already had a master, Void would’ve knelt before Daylight and called him his master… even though Daylight was two years younger than Void himself.

“What! Let’s forget the fact you’ve made me an unpaid worker! And now you ask us to feed another mouth too?” Kaiser yelled, “Never! Never EVER!”

Void heard Kaiser, and was shocked. He immediately began to look at Daylight with pleading eyes, but Daylight put on a helpless expression.

Void then hesitatingly looked towards Liola, but he was unsure if he could help him solve the problem at all… If Daylight, as the eldest apprentice, couldn’t convince Kaiser, how would the second apprentice, Liola, have any say in it?

To Void, these three disciples were quite weird, because they had no concept of seniority. Even as the eldest, Daylight seemed to obey every word Kaiser said, even if he would ignore Kaiser when it came down to matters of justice.

Liola frowned slightly, then asked Void, “How familiar are you with the roads and the situation in the Martial Arts world?”

This question stunned Void, until Master Lee coughed to remind him. He then immediately responded, “Ve-very familiar. I travel across the Martial Arts world often. I didn’t return to the Overlook until a bit over a year ago.”

Liola looked at Kaiser, and said, “We’re not familiar with around here. It would be better to have a guide.”

Hearing Liola’s words, Kaiser almost wanted to beat him up.

For Kaiser and Daylight, it was natural for them not to be familiar with “here”, but he could not believe the guy who lived here for twenty years was telling them he wasn’t familiar with it…

However, Kaiser didn’t doubt what he said at all. The ice cube Liola indeed may live in a place for twenty years and not know the sky was blue.

“Understood, then let’s bring him.” Kaiser answered unwillingly.

Hearing this, Void was so happy he was about to jump for joy. He looked at “second disciple” with gratitude, and said with the utmost respect, “May I ask where you intend to go?”

“Places where there’s money to be made.”
“Places where there are Martial Arts masters.”

The person he asked, Liola, didn’t seem to respond at all. Void thought about the two people’s requests, and suggested, “The Martial Arts Symposium is the place where masters gather, and there’s much money to be made if you win.”

“Martial Arts Symposium it is!” Daylight and Kaiser said in unison, which was a rare sight to be seen.

As soon as they finished, they both sank into their own fantasies. Of course, one of them dreamt of fighting with Grandmasters of Martial Arts, and the other dreamt of being crushed to death under too much money.

Liola began to think what his excuse would be when Kaiser forces him to enter into the Symposium competition. If he competes in the competition, there would always be a chance someone would recognize him.

Even though most of the righteous factions wouldn’t have anyone who would recognize him, but there’s no telling whether Assassin organization would send someone in undercover.

* * *

To make it in time for the Symposium, Daylight and Kaiser both hurriedly packed their bags, and the next morning, they both stood in front of the Assassin’s door. They then both began to knock on the door forcefully, and Kaiser even yelled. These noises made not only awakened Liola, they also made sure nobody in the entire Overlook could sleep.

Hearing Kaiser’s loud mouth, Liola suddenly jumped up. Not being able to notice their approach before they began to knock on the door was something rare for Liola, and noticed his body was feeling weak. But for someone who had been bedridden for a year, just feeling weak was already in great condition.

Liola ignored his body’s protest, and still got up to do his morning routines. In the eyes of an ordinary person, he wouldn’t look any different from before.

When Liola was halfway through, Kaiser couldn’t wait any longer. He kicked open the wooden door, and stared at Liola from the door as he washed his face, not to mention tapping his feet repeatedly on the ground.

Unfortunately, it didn’t affect Liola at all, and he continued leisurely going at his business. Finally, when Liola was slowly wiping his hand, Kaiser couldn’t take it anymore, and he grabbed Liola and rushed out.

“Breakfast, breakfast!” Kaiser murmured as he rushed. No matter how big of a hurry they were in, he could never forget to eat!

When Kaiser reached the dining room, Lee San Niang also came in holding a plate of breakfast. It was actually not time for breakfast yet, considering it was barely dawn.

Since Lee San Niang knew Kaiser for a year, she knew despite the fact Kaiser looked lazy, if there were money or food involved, he will definitely be in the front line. Therefore, she got up early for this occasion and prepared breakfast for Kaiser, otherwise Kaiser wouldn’t have anything to eat.

Seeing the hot steamed buns and dishes in her hands, Kaiser couldn’t help but gulped, and then dragged back the mouth-watering Dragon who flew out from behind Liola’s back, otherwise, the dishes would be thrown on the ground by Baolilong… Dragons didn’t really care whether or not food came in dishes.

Lee San Niang looked as Baolilong angrily grabbed Kaiser’s green hair, who also began to scream and trying to get away.

These two children’s actions made Lee San Niang laugh, and at the same time, tried to intervene, “Okay, okay, stop fighting, go and prepare to eat.”

Kaiser said “Okay” as he still pinched Baolilong’s face once more before he walked towards the table and sat down.

Baolilong, whose cheeks turned red from the pinching, pouted with watery eyes, and then turned around to run into Liola’s arms.

When Liola and Daylight both sat down, Kaiser, who never cared much about manners, began to gulp down food as if he hadn’t eaten in years. With a steamed bun in his left hand and a meat bun in his right, he would often put his head down to drink soy milk.

After Baolilong had cried in papa’s arms, it also climbed up to the table and began to fight with Kaiser over food, where they were both ate creating a mess.

Liola, on the other hand, chewed slowly. Daylight was hearty, but his actions were elegant nevertheless.

Before long, Void stepped in with panic on his face. Seeing his hair was completely messed up, everyone knew he hurried here as soon as he woke up.

He started apologizing as soon as he came in, fearing Kaiser would turn back on his decision to take him. Kaiser, however, rolled his eyes at Void, and then continued his fight for food with the Dragon.

Then, the few people of importance in the Overlook had also gathered around, but they didn’t enter the “battle” for food.

Seeing Baolilong and Kaiser were already at the point with open mouths and drawn guns, no one dared to come close to the dining table. They all stood on the side, watching and trying to hold back the laughter.

When they were about done eating, Master Lee had arrived. As soon as he entered the dining room, Lee San Niang hurriedly took out a plate with specially prepared breakfast and brought it to the Master’s seat.

“Yeah, otherwise we might not make it to the preliminaries.” Kaiser said with food in his mouth.

“Kaiser, I must remind you to use that weapon of yours called a ‘gun’, less often.” Master Lee showed a rare, caring expression.

Kaiser looked at the geezer strangely. Gun was his only weapon. What was he to do without a gun, fight bare-handed?

After Master Lee’s reminder, Void nodded his head too and said,

“Kaiser, I’m familiar with the Martial Arts world. Most Martial Arts practitioners wouldn’t be like people here, and be open minded to all sorts of strange things. Taoists, after all, come in contact with many mysterious, unexplainable things, so they could accept your strange special abilities, but for Martial Artists… They may take you for someone from the wicked factions.”

“Wicked factions? What’s that?” Kaiser frowned.

“They are the wicked ones in the Martial Arts world, such as Assassins. Those people are often pursued by the righteous factions.”

Void was just giving an example, but he had no idea he had hit the jackpot.

Kaiser kept calm and answered, “Understood”.

Daylight, who never lied, had a strange look on his face, and he buried his face in food. They all knew, Liola was the number one Assassin, and therefore practically the devil figurehead of the wicked factions.

Kaiser was also the descendent of a devil. Lastly, Baolilong’s biological father was probably about to be the devilish Dragon… In reality, their team’s wicked vs. righteous ratio was three to one; it was practically overwhelming with evil.

“If you really can’t be accepted by the righteous factions, come back to the Overlook, and let me clarify your identities. The righteous factions should overlook it on my behalf.”

Master Lee smiled lightly.

For the first time, Kaiser did not add any explanation to Lee’s words, and all he did was scratched his face uneasily.

Daylight stood up and said earnestly on behalf of his companions, “Thank you, very much, Master Lee. We are indebted to your care over the last year.”

Master Lee stroked his beard, smiled and nodded.

He looked at the two youngsters in front of them with personalities so different, they were heaven and earth apart: one is earnest, and the other was rather weird.

The former had helped the Overlook plenty, and even if he hadn’t, his righteous and amicable personalities would’ve conquered the hearts of everyone at the Overlook.

The latter, however, made everyone shook their heads as soon as they arrived. But after getting to know him, everyone understood his awkward personality. Every time Daylight would go out to fight monsters, Kaiser would always say he wouldn’t care about what happens. But as soon as Kaiser heard something, he was the first one to run out.

“Daylight, Kaiser, you two need to take good care of Liola. He had just recovered from being seriously injured. If it weren’t for the fact you’re trying to make it to the Symposium, he should really stay here and nourish his body.”

Lee San Niang said as she worriedly looked at Liola. Although he didn’t look out of the ordinary, he was, after all, someone who had slept for a whole year. It was quite strange to her that Liola seemed to be free as he did.

“Who cares about him! It’s more like he should be taking care of me.”

Kaiser ignored everything Lee San Niang said. Liola was the best Assassin and on the same level as Lancelot and others, he would never need people like Kaiser to take care of him, right?

“Little runt, he is your second brother after all. Let’s forget the fact you don’t respect elders, but at least you should remember the friendship between apprentices.” Master Lee sighed and shook his head.

“He’s my second ‘older brother’, correct. And as my ‘older brother’, he doesn’t take care of me and instead wants me to take care of him? That’s ridiculous!” Kaiser retorted tactlessly.

“You little runt…” Master Lee got so angry that he blew his beard and popped his eyes.

They finished breakfast under the constant lectures of Master Lee and retorts from Kaiser ridiculous enough to make people spit food out of their mouths.

Kaiser and Daylight had stayed there for far more than Kaiser had originally intended.

After finishing their last breakfast in this place, Daylight went as far as saying goodbyes to all the people one-by-one. There were probably about a hundred people in the Overlook, and at least dozens of which were familiar with Daylight. After Daylight had finished, it was already pretty late. It was then when they started on their journey. Practically everyone in the Overlook stood at the entrance, sending these five people off.

“You have to take good care of Baolilong.” Lee San Niang unwillingly let go of Baolilong from her arms. If it were possible, she really wanted to keep this child, but unfortunately Baolilong was practically glued to Liola.

Daylight showed a strange expression again. Being terrible at lying, he really could not make a proper response to Lee San Niang. Asking him to take good care of someone else’s Dragon? It would be far too hard on him. He already had enough trouble taking care of Flames. As soon as he thought about it, Flames unhappily prodded its master with its head.

Liola nodded lightly. Lee San Niang misunderstood Liola’s cold personality as the possibility he was unhappy with taking care of Baolilong, and she said with a cold face,

“If you don’t want to take care of the child, you could leave him here. I will treat him as my own.”

Who knew as soon as she said so, Baolilong began to desperately struggle out of Lee San Niang’s arms. It then swung its little chubby legs to run back to Liola, and then grabbed his legs and wouldn’t let go, fearing papa would really do what Lee San Niang asked and leave it here.

“Lee-jiejie, don’t misunderstand.” Kaiser saw something was wrong with the atmosphere of the conversation, and quickly clarified,

“My second brother is just a bit introverted, so his response would be like this. Even if you were to swing a knife at him he wouldn’t make a sound. But, don’t worry, he will take good care of Baolilong, like he had done so for a long time before. If he really treated Baolilong poorly, then Baolilong wouldn’t be as attached to him.”

“Well, that is true.” Lee San Niang looked at Liola’s cold face, and remembered he hadn’t said much since he woke up, so perhaps it was indeed his personality.

Lee San Niang nodded, and then turned worriedly and said to someone else, “Void, please do look after Baolilong for me. He’s too playful, and I’m afraid he might run away when you guys aren’t paying attention.”

Daylight scratched his face, and then walked back to his companions. It was the team of four people and two Dragons reluctantly parted from the Overlook.

When they walked onto the streets, the few citizens walking there had recognized the Blue Sea Lancer, and they were all rushing up to them. Kaiser and company decided immediately to let Flames shapeshift back to its giant form. Everyone jumped onto Flames’ back, and they flew out of the Sky City.

Chapter 2 : The Sun Faction

After flying for only a short while, Kaiser had already began to complain. They were surrounded by nothing but blue skies and white clouds, so he had gotten bored quickly.

It just happened there wasn’t much to do sitting above the Dragons besides enjoying the scenery, and Kaiser didn’t dare to sleep, fearing he might fall out of sky in his sleep, straight into hell to report there. It would be terrible.

Daylight heard Kaiser complaining, so he asked Void, “Would we be able to make it to the Symposium if we walk?”

Instead, however, Daylight saw Void looking strange.

He was practically lying on his stomach on Flame’s back. On one hand, he grabbed a spike on Flames’ back, and the other held Daylight’s robe. His face was pale, his hands were trembling. Anyone who looked at him could tell he was scared for his life.

He didn’t even hear Daylight’s question. It wasn’t his fault, really. In this world, even if someone had the ability to fly, they could never fly this high up in the air, and their speed would never match the kings of the sky — Dragons.

Void had, of course, never flown up so high in the air. Despite the fact he had seen Daylight flying countless of times, but it was still very different from experiencing it first-hand. Void was so nervous, his whole body was sweating.

“Void? You don’t look so well, are you okay?” Daylight saw Void’s pale face and then immediately asked in a caring manner.

In the world he came from, most mounts could fly, and there were also countless flying Mechas; therefore, there were rather few people who would be scared of flying. Daylight didn’t realize Void was pale because he was scared of flying.

It wasn’t until then that Void snapped out of it, and then forced a smile. “I-I’m f-fine.”

Kaiser sat with his back against Flames’ large spike, and crossed his legs with a face full of dissatisfaction.

Liola, on the other hand, was holding Baolilong in his arms. It looked as if he was sitting quietly on Flames’ back, but in fact he was busy communicating with Baolilong via telepathy. The little guy was very unhappy: not only did its master sit on another Dragon, even itself had to sit on the Dragon instead of flying freely.

Though Liola had already clarified that, due to Void’s presence, Baolilong couldn’t transform into a Dragon, but Baolilong didn’t care. Liola’s attempts to comfort it seemed to have failed, and he feared Baolilong would forcefully transform into a Dragon, so he said to Daylight,

“Let’s just walk.”

Seeing two of his companions asking so, Daylight was about to ask Void about whether they would have enough time, but then Flames told its master the little White Dragon’s unhappiness.

Daylight then knew it was an emergency, so he hurried Flames towards the ground, in order to prevent Void finding out Baolilong’s true identity.

“Ahh!!!”

The sudden descent made Void forget all his manners. He hugged Daylight’s leg tightly with his eyes closed.

Kaiser saw the usual dashing Void was now hugging onto a leg, then immediately started to laugh unsympathetically. He would even sometimes yell playfully, as if he was riding on a roller coaster.

The child-like Baolilong also followed Kaiser’s lead and began to yell, and these two let out a few crazed yells.

When Flames finally landed on the ground, Void couldn’t even move his body. He sat frozen on Flames’ back with his lips trembling, and didn’t say anything for a long time.

Kaiser laughed loudly as he jumped down, and at the same time began to examine their surroundings.

It looked like they landed within a mountain range, and they were surrounded by mountains. However, the place they were was actually a grassland, and they seemed to be surrounded by forests.

Kaiser scratched his head, and turned to ask, “Hey, Void, where are we?”

Void stood up despite not being able to fully recover. He carefully examined the area for a while, and after seeing the dark brown tree trunks and nearly spherical leaves, he yelled, “Crap, we’re in the mountains controlled by Bandits.”

“Did we go the wrong way?” Kaiser asked impatiently.

“No.” Void laughed bitterly, “It’s even a shortcut of sorts.”

Kaiser raised his eyebrows, “Then what do you mean by ‘crap’? Don’t yell if nothing is wrong.”

Void explained bitterly,

“These mountains are plagued by Bandits. Anyone passing here is guaranteed to be robbed again and again, endlessly. Therefore, unless you’re willing to pay their protection fees or hire a large amount of bodyguards, we have to go around it. It’s just when we were flying, I was too nervous, and forgot to ask Daylight to turn…”

Void began to blush as he spoke. Remember what he had done moments ago, he turned around and said to Daylight, “Daylight, sorry, that was rude of me.”

“No problem.” Daylight smiled. He didn’t seem to mind what happened at all.

Though they may not be able to fight amongst the rank-X individuals in Aklan Academy… but while they were here, even Daylight alone had not lost a single fight, and now Liola was awake too.

‘Bandits? Who knows who’d be robbing whom if we run into them!’

Void was still very worried. Although he knew Daylight was strong and he himself could also fight, Bandits were never alone, and they often came in hundreds.

Void thought even enough ants would be able to bite an elephant to death, not to mention they were practically on the Bandits’ turf. He had also heard the leaders of the Bandits were actually powerful people who chose to hide away from the rest of the world.

“I think we would be better off taking a detour, even if it takes more time. If we rush at full speed, we can still make it to the Symposium.”

“Rush at full speed? No, thanks! If there’s a shortcut, we’re taking it. We could walk slowly, so why would I want to rush?” Kaiser snapped in response.

Seeing how stubborn Kaiser was, Void felt very helpless. He slowly understood why Daylight, as the eldest and stronger than Kaiser, would often look helpless in front of Kaiser.

Void could only turn to look at the second eldest, who had actually convinced Kaiser before, hoping he could persuade Kaiser again.

Liola, however, was deep in his own thoughts. He felt the scenery around here looked familiar, especially the strangely shaped trees.

When had he been here? Did he simply pass here before, or was his target here?

He thought about it again and again, but Liola was unable to recall anything.

Kaiser hurried them impatiently, “Let’s go, I still want to go play in a few cities. There’s nothing here but trees. Boring.”

“Playing in a few cities?” Void heard and his face changed, as if he was having some difficulties.

“What? There’s a problem with playing too?”

“No, just the money Master gave i-is a bit limited, and we have to pay a fee just to go into the city… I had originally planned to just stay in the villages…”

Void’s face blushed again.

Taoists didn’t make much money, especially when they often helped voluntarily, therefore losing even more than making an income.

Despite the frequent appearance of monsters, and the thankful people in the city had donated quite a bit of money to the Overlook, but it only slightly relieved their financial problems… Minus the money eaten away by Baolilong with its endless pit of a stomach, there was not much more money than usual.

“Damn, don’t tell me the money that geezer gave isn’t enough?” Kaiser looked as if pain ran through his body as soon as he talked about money. He then pointed his finger at Daylight and started blaming him,

“All your fault! Don’t know you know to get money for getting rid of demons? You were unpaid each time you did it, and now, look at us! We’re forced to sleep on the streets.”

Hearing Kaiser’s accusations, Daylight said without any hesitation, “Maintaining justice is a Knight’s responsibility.”

Void was stunned, and murmured, “I said villages, not on the streets.”

Unfortunately no one heard his clarification. Kaiser glared angrily at Daylight, whom plainly looked back, not thinking he had done anything wrong.

“Don’t care! I’m going to play. I’m in an alien world, and what the hell am I doing here if not look around!”

Kaiser said without caring whether Void would find out the truth, because he cleverly spoke in the language in his world.

Daylight frowned, and responded in his native language,

“How could we play? Master Lee’s request hasn’t been taken care of, and we should get to the Symposium as soon as possible to see what we could do to help. I don’t want the more important business to be delayed by playing around. If those monsters use my absence to their advantage and attack around, things will be bad.”

Void felt anxious too. Even though he couldn’t understand their conversation, but judging from their facial expressions, Void knew they were in a heated argument. However, Void didn’t know what to do to stop them.

“Some people are fighting not far from here.”

Liola said after being quiet for a long while, but he sank back into silence. It seemed to have attracted Daylight and Kaiser’s attention, especially Daylight, who said with an almost worried tone, “It’s not someone getting robbed, right? Liola, where are those people?”

Hearing Daylight ask, Kaiser immediately felt something was wrong, but before he had time to stop Liola, he already pointed in a direction. Daylight had already called forth Flames, and charged towards the direction Liola pointed.

Kaiser didn’t even have time to grab Daylight’s sleeve. The only thing he could do was stare at the smoke left behind by Daylight with his mouth wide open, and it was a long while before he said,

“Damn! I knew the Aklan Troublemaking Squad changed leaders.”

* * *

As soon as Daylight had gotten a direction from Liola, he went immediately. The reason why he went so quickly was, other than fearing Bandits would hurt someone, Daylight knew Kaiser would oppose him rescuing people. But he knew as soon as he was engaged in a battle, even Kaiser would back him up depending on the situation.

Without running for long, Daylight heard the sound of battle coming from afar. He took a moment to be in awe of Liola’s power. ‘Being able to notice people were fighting from this far away, what kind of ability was that?’

Although he was in awe, he didn’t stop. It wasn’t long before he could see people fighting.

Daylight was fervent in maintaining justice, he knew he had to observe the situation before jumping into the battle. So he stopped to carefully examine the situation.

It was fortunate Daylight stopped, because the situation was a mess. It wasn’t something like what Daylight had imagined: a few hundred Bandits surrounding a dozen of people.

Instead, it was a few hundreds fighting a few dozens, and it looked like they were evenly matched.

To be exact, the few dozens of people were wearing conforming clothes: white, short-sleeved shirt and green pants, and there was an icon in the shape of a sun on their chests. The few hundred people did not wear anything similar, and their clothing looked rugged.

Additionally, there were two conspicuous people inside: a man and a woman. They were not wearing matching clothes, their attires were more luxurious.

The man had outstanding looks with his elegant eyebrows and starry eyes. His face was also carrying a bit of pride. With his silk-woven white shirt, he was dashingly pushing back enemies with his long sword.

The woman was no ordinary person, either: she was dressed in a fiery red, and she carried a long whip. The whip was ferociously beating the people with rugged clothes like a viper.

Even though the hundreds of people had the numerical advantage, but their individual’s capability to fight was inferior compared to those few dozens, and far lower than that of the man and the woman.

Although the dozens of people seemed to be at a slight advantage, they were still facing hundreds of people. If the situation continued, when the hundreds of people were all dead, then they wouldn’t have many left either. Seeing the situation, the man and the woman seemed a bit panicked, but at the same time also helpless.

Daylight, who was observing on the side, couldn’t seem to decide. He wasn’t sure which side he should be helping.

He’d help the ones losing, but they were the ones who had the bigger numbers, and they didn’t look like they were the friendly kind of people. He could also help the other side, but helping the ones who had advantage wasn’t something Daylight could do. So he simply stood there, trying to resolve his dilemma.

“Hey, w-what troubles did you run into?”

Kaiser’s high-pitched voice suddenly exploded behind Daylight. Although he was trying to catch his breath, his loud voice didn’t change. It was loud enough to draw the attentions of those hundreds of people. They had not originally noticed Daylight there, but now they were all looking in his direction. The battle had frozen temporarily.

Kaiser saw these few hundreds of people looking at them, and he immediately yelled unhappily, “Look, look! You troublemaker, now you’ve messed with hundreds of people.”

‘Did I mess with them?’

Daylight was yelling injustice in his mind. Despite the fact arriving at the scene first, the person who drew their attention wasn’t him. Even Void and Liola both thought the person who caused all this was someone else.

Some of the people there used this opportunity to attack their opponents. In an instant, the battle resumed.

Since the two sides were almost evenly matched, no one really seemed paid any more attention to the few of them on the side, especially since one of them looked simply like a child, and thus probably no one strong.

“Wow, a few hundred people battling each other is quite a good show.” Kaiser’s eyes shone as he looked around.

Daylight asked strangely, “Haven’t we already seen a few people in battle? Did you forget the time when Violet Academy ambushed us?”

Kaiser rolled his eyes at Daylight,

“It’s not the same. It was either Mechas or Knights fighting one another, and it wasn’t nearly as good of a show as this. These people are fighting with fists and knives, and they are using all sorts of moves. Haha, look over there, they’re even using ‘Monkey Steals the Peach’.”
[T/N: A martial arts technique where one drops on his knees with one arm up to block, and the other hand is thrust into the opponent’s crotch, often resulting in the end of the fight.]

Daylight was just about to criticize Kaiser’s immature mentality when Void suddenly yelled in shock, “People from the Sun Faction?”

As he yelled, the man and woman both looked in their direction. But due to the tense situation of the battle, they didn’t look for long.

“Sun Faction?” Kaiser seemed very curious.

Void nodded and answered, “It’s a quite famous faction in the world of Martial Arts. The sun on their clothing is the symbol of their faction.”

Daylight looked towards the battle, and surely enough there were a sun symbol on their white shirts.

Daylight asked immediately, “Then the other sides are Bandits?”

Void looked towards them, then nodded with certainty, “Judging from their outfits, they should be a group of Bandits in these mountains.”

“Hmmph! Despicable Bandits.”

Daylight yelled as he grabbed the pike from his back. And after another rush Kaiser couldn’t respond to, Daylight had jumped into the fray.

At first, neither side know whether he was a friend or foe; but after Daylight swung his pike around a few times and beat the Bandits onto the ground, the people from the Sun Faction cheered, while the Bandits grunted.

Void saw Daylight had joined the battle, and thought the Sun Faction actually had a decent reputation in the Martial Arts world. Considering he had been involved in Martial Arts for years, he felt it was necessary for him to help the Sun Faction, and thus he drew his long sword and went in after Daylight.

At first, neither side didn’t seem to care about two young men who had joined the fight, because they thought it wouldn’t have affected the battle much, but they soon realized their mistakes.

Void’s strength was already comparable to the man and woman there, not to mention Daylight, whose power was considerably beyond Void’s, especially because he was holding a pike with a wide attack range. He would swing it around and put many people to the ground. Had it not been Daylight’s merciful heart, he would’ve used all his power and aura, and the battle would’ve ended in an instant.

Nevertheless, this was enough to swing the battle towards the Sun Faction’s favor.

The Bandits saw something was wrong. If they let Daylight and Void continue to participate in this battle, they would lose for sure. They glanced around, and saw Kaiser and Liola standing on the side.

The former had a child-like face, despite being twenty. They thought he looked sixteen, seventeen at most. Liola also looked like the delicate type, and if anyone had to guess, most would say around twenty, not to mention the five-year-old child on Liola’s back.

These three people, in the Bandits’ eyes, were the best people to be taken hostage to get the two out of battle.

After looking at each other, about a dozen of them broke off from the battle, and charged towards Liola, Kaiser, and Baolilong.

The man in the battle who saw their intent, he yelled, “My friend, your companions are in danger.”

Daylight and Void heard and looked towards Kaiser.

Sure enough, a dozen or so Bandits held their blades and charged at him. Void was a bit worried. If Kaiser used his fireball, would the Sun Faction become suspicious of such supernatural spells?

Daylight glanced at them, and said a few prayers for those Bandits, then went back to fighting.

Kaiser looked at the people charging at them, and said with raised eyebrows, “Hey, Liola, you do it. I don’t want to use magic and then get treated like a monster. Don’t forget, old man Lee asked me not to use fireball, right?”

Liola nodded, and took a few steps forward.

When the dozen Bandits reached him, they pressed all their weapons against his neck. Then Liola’s figure warped a bit, and after a dozen cracks, the Bandits were all frozen. Then their bodies all fell to the ground along with the noise of their weapons hitting the floor. Liola was once again standing next to Kaiser.

Unfortunately, very few saw this spectacular scene. Even the man who warned them before had not noticed anything because he had his own battles to fight.

In the place where yells and shouts covered the air, the sounds of a dozen bodies and weapons fell to the ground was far too miniscule to be heard. Everyone just realized the dozen Bandits had been defeated, and secretly said to themselves the two standing on the side were not as harmless as they seemed.

After a while, the Bandits could no longer continue with their losses. The few leader-like Bandits yelled loudly, “Retreat! Retreat!”

These Bandits had been wanting to run for a while because they couldn’t handle their opponents, and they feared they would receive cruel punishments for doing so. But now they heard their leaders asking them to retreat, they ran faster than they had ever ran before.

After the command for withdrawal was given, every Bandit dropped everything they did and ran.

“Damn! You damn Bandits, don’t run!”

The woman yelled with rage, but no Bandit would even acknowledge her. After she pursued them for a while, the delicate man yelled at the woman, “Sister apprentice, stop, don’t forget these are the Bandit Mountains.”

The woman stopped with dissatisfaction on her face, but she had no choice but obey her brother apprentice’s orders.

Seeing the Bandits had backed off, the Sun Faction people sighed in relief, and showed how exhausted they were. The man said something to his people, and a few dozen of them moved to rescue the injured, then put up a few tents to treat the wounded.

After commanding the others, the man immediately walked towards Daylight and others. Kaiser and Liola had already walked to where Daylight was. The man showed a very handsome smile, he then bowed and said,

“Thank you, everyone, for lending us a hand. I am Auyan Dri of the Sun Faction, and on behalf of everyone, thank you for what you have done here today.”

Knowing the people behind him don’t know anything about the Martial Arts world, Void stepped forward to be their spokesman.

He knew this man should not be neglected, because Auyan Dri was the son of the leader of Sun Faction, and also one of the young prodigies in the Martial Arts world.

Void immediately returned the formalities, and said courteously, “No, no, Hero Auyan Dri, we are both in the same Martial Arts world, and helping each other is something we should do. Hero, you do not have to be so polite.”

Auyan Dri was just about to pay back his respect, when Kaiser suddenly interrupted,

“Hey! Damn Void, don’t tell me you’re telling them we don’t want any compensations? If you dare to make us do unpaid work again, I’ll skin you alive! I’m warning you!”

Upon hearing Kaiser, both Auyan Dri and Void were stunned.

Void looked towards Liola with a bitter face, whom had no idea why Void always liked to ask him for help. He was obviously the one who was least familiar with Void, but Liola knew he had to do something. He then covered Kaiser’s mouth, ignoring his muffled cries and struggles.

Despite the fact Auyan Dri looking at Liola as he covered Kaiser’s mouth suspiciously, but he didn’t forget to reply to Void, “Ah, so that’s why. That brother’s sense of humor is quite interesting.”

* * *

“Wow, what is this? So cute!”

The woman yelled out in surprise, and then ran towards the little Flames.

Daylight had been in shock, and knowing the prideful Dragons don’t like to be touched by humans other than their master, Daylight immediately grabbed Flames and tried to comfort it via telepathy. He hoped Flames wouldn’t get angry and shoot out a few fireballs.

The woman who grabbed air didn’t seem to give up, and thought Daylight wouldn’t let her hug Flames. Her face went red from anger, and grunted unsatisfactorily, “Such a stingy man.”

“Sorry, miss, Flames doesn’t like to be touched by others. I don’t want him to harm you.”

Daylight smiled apologetically and explained. Seeing Daylight’s smile, the woman felt she couldn’t really go against a man with a smile, especially when the smile was from a man as handsome as Daylight, even if he wasn’t quite as handsome as her brother apprentice.

With his amiable personality and earnest smile, she really couldn’t muster up any hatred. Most people who saw Daylight would probably feel the same way.

“I am Long Yulie.” Long Yulie, with a faint blush, seemed to act a bit more shyly unlike she did before.

“Yulie? I am Daylight.” Daylight smiled lavishly.

Hearing Daylight call her name directly, Long Yulie complained with a flushed face, “How could you call my name directly?”

“Huh?” Daylight was shocked and he didn’t know what he had done wrong. He had always called people by their names directly, even for the Princess Lanski, Daylight would only add a title for Knights.

Auyan Dri seemed a bit angry. He looked at Flames and frowned, “This… what is this?”

Void hurriedly explained, “I am from the Sky Overlook from Sky City, and we are actually all Taoists. This is a demon converted by Daylight and became his helper.”

“Taoists? So that’s why.” Auyan Dri nodded, but still showed some hatred towards Flames, especially after knowing it was a demon.

“Why has Hero Auyan Dri come into the Bandit Mountains? In my humble guess, these are your servants, and they’re not the helpers you could use against these Bandits.”

Void thought it was strange. Even though with the Sun Factions’ strength, they wouldn’t be afraid of entering the Bandit Mountains, but at least they shouldn’t be here with only servants?

Auyan Dri smiled uneasily, and his eyes looked over to Long Yulie. He said,

“This was my mistake, I had overestimated myself. Because we were in a hurry to go to the Martial Arts Symposium to help the Alliance Leader, I took the shortcut, thinking I could handle the Bandits or simply scare them away, who knew…”

Despite what Auyan Dri said, Void didn’t think for a moment it was true. Even though Auyan Dri was still young, he had seen the world of Martial Arts and knew the dangers within it, so he would definitely never bring a few dozen servants into the Bandit Mountains.

Seeing his actions, this bad idea was probably from Long Yulie, and Auyan Dri probably didn’t want to seem weak in front of the lady, so he really did charge into the Bandit Mountains.

Although Void knew Auyan Dri was lying, Daylight had no idea. After hearing Auyan Dri, he really thought it was true, and nodded rapidly,

“You are right. The sooner we all get to the Symposium, the better. How about we travel together? That way no one would fear Bandits.”

Of course, he was talking about people on Auyan Dri’s side. Daylight had no fear at all. No matter how many Bandits there were, there wouldn’t be enough to overcome Daylight and Void. In worst case scenario, they could use Flames to escape, and not to mention they still had Liola.

Auyan Dri, of course, wouldn’t refuse such an offer. Just having Void and Daylight was very helpful in the battle before. He then invited Daylight and others to lunch.

Kaiser, whose mouth was covered, was struggling to refute Daylight’s suggestion, had quieted down as soon as he heard Auyan Dri was inviting them to lunch.

Liola let go of him too. He knew Kaiser had been convinced by food, and therefore probably wouldn’t say anything ridiculous again.

Chapter 3 : Liola’s Confusion

Void’s knowledge of Martial Arts was indeed impressive, but Auyan Dri had already heard of Void and knew he was a Taoist from the Overlook. However, Auyan Dri had never heard of Daylight and, as much as he was unwilling to admit, Daylight was indeed stronger than him, despite they were about the same age. When has this young prodigy appeared in the Martial Arts world?

Void explained with embarrassment, “In fact, I am the only one who is truly from the Overlook. Daylight and others are Taoists from afar, but in order to exchange studies with us, they had stayed at the Overlook for a year. So, in a sense, they are related to the Sky Overlook.”

Void patiently explained the details.

As for the idea Daylight and others stayed to exchange studies, it was at least half true… at least Kaiser often let Master Lee observe his fireballs, and they often taught Kaiser and Daylight how to use the wooden sword. So… it was kind of an exchange.

The reason why Void explained as such was because of Master Lee’s orders to explain Daylight’s Taoist identity so they wouldn’t be mistaken as people from wicked factions.

“I understand.” Auyan Dri nodded with relief. He had originally been suspicious of Daylight’s Taoist’s identity.

‘How could someone with such incredible Kung Fu be a Taoist?’

But after Void’s explanation, Auyan Dri believed Daylight’s identity. At the same time, he glanced over at Daylight who chatting with Long Yulie, and Auyan Dri seemed to be a bit upset.

At this time, Daylight felt helpless because of Long Yulie. He was bombarded by her questions, and since he didn’t know how to lie, he could only grunt in reply.

“Are you really a Taoist?”

Long Yulie widened her eyes as she examined Daylight. No matter how she looked, the person in front of her didn’t look like a Taoist. Out of ten people looking at him, 9.9 of them would say he looked like a young hero.

Daylight couldn’t even answer the first question, and he said with a frown, “Well… technically I don’t count as one…”

“So are you or are you not?!” Long Yulie was beginning to be a bit angry.

“Well…”

Kaiser was originally having fun watching Daylight’s awkwardness, but he saw Daylight was about to spill the truth, so he went and intervened,

“We are technically not Taoists because ‘Taoist’ is a word you use. For us, however, it’s something different. Other than the name, we also learn different things than Taoists. For example, our Kung Fu is much better than Taoists.”

“Is that so, then why do you call it?” Long Yulie asked curiously.

“Knight.” Kaiser used his native language to speak the word, and then switched back to the language of this world, “That is what we are.”

“Knight.” Long Yulie tried to imitate Kaiser’s pronunciation, and then happily pointed at Daylight, “Knight?”

This time, Daylight firmly nodded. He was indeed a Knight. He also understood why Kaiser didn’t say Sorcerer instead, because then Daylight wouldn’t have to violate his principle of not lying.

Daylight threw a thankful look at Kaiser.

“This demon is so beautiful. You sure I can’t touch it?” Long Yulie finally said her real purpose in getting to know Daylight.

Daylight looked at Flames uneasily, whom seemed a bit happy. Long Yulie said it was beautiful, did indeed make him feel quite happy, but touching it? It was out of the question!

“No, he’s not willing.” Daylight laughed apologetically.

Long Yulie seemed deeply disappointed, but she soon seemed to forget, then asked curiously again,

“The man with black hair has a really special eye color! It’s silver. Is he also a Knight?”

Long Yulie widened her eyes again. Her master had plenty of apprentices younger than her so she was interested in Flames more than children, but nevertheless she still liked cute children.

Seeing Daylight’s frozen face, Kaiser gave him a snappy look, then began to talk to grab Long Yulie’s attention, “Let me tell you, this child’s story is very tragic…”

Of course, what followed was the ridiculous story he had been telling people in the Overlook, except this time it was even more tragic and pitiful.

Baolilong became the child who saw demons abuse its parents’ body to death, and the village where it lived had everybody eaten alive by demons. The only reason Baolilong lived was because it hid in a rice sack, etc.

The story was so moving even Daylight almost jumped up and swore on his honor to kill those despicable demons.

While Kaiser was telling the tear-jerking story of Baolilong, Liola actually got telepathic messages from Baolilong,

Long Yulie probably understood the reason after hearing Kaiser’s heartbreaking story, so she didn’t plan on scaring him. She immediately went back to her seat, and frequently looked towards Baolilong with sympathy.

At this time, a Sun Faction servant walked towards Auyan Dri and reported respectfully,

“Young Master, we have the statistics of our casualties. Sixteen of our people had lost their lives, and they had been buried together as per your instructions. Additionally, there are ten people with severe injuries, and about three dozen with minor injuries.”

“Tell everyone to find materials to make ten carts. No matter what, we must be back on our way by tomorrow morning at the latest.” Auyan Dri commanded with a frown.

It was best for them to get out of these Bandit Mountains as soon as possible. Had it not been for the support of Daylight and others, Auyan Dri might have even considered leaving these ten people behind and take anyone he could to get out of these mountains.

“Understood.” The person who reported seemed to sigh in relief. He thought the strict young master would’ve chosen to go back on the road immediately.

“Could I ask you to help me guard through the night? My servants are fairly weak, and I’m afraid they cannot possibly take up such an important responsibility. Out of everyone on my side, I may be the only one who could do it.” Auyan Dri said with embarrassment.

Although it was impolite of him to say only one person from his side could do it, but at the very least, he thought he shouldn’t let a woman like Long Yulie guard for the night.

“We don’t need to keep watch at night.” Kaiser said with a wave of his arm, “My second brother is so strong no one could get close without him knowing.”

Hearing what Kaiser said, Auyan Dri’s attention had completely moved to Liola.

Auyan Dri did not pay much attention the quiet man before, until Kaiser had said something about him. But after a short while of observation, Auyan Dri did not sense anything special about this man.

He smiled courteously, “Your second brother is very dashing, but lives are at stake, and it would be safer to have night watchers.”

“If you’re happy to do it, then do it, but count me out.”

Kaiser was quite familiar with Liola’s abilities. Even if Kaiser was awake and prop his eyes wide open to examine the surrounding, he wouldn’t notice the enemies sooner than a sleeping Liola, so why would he do something as pointless as night watching?

This left Auyan Dri absolutely no choice, and his face seemed to immediately change, while Void was also sweating on the side.

Void was well aware of how Kaiser was. At first, he would get so angry at Kaiser until his face turned red, but after spending time with Kaiser, Void had often laughed so much his face would still turn red.

Unfortunately, Auyan Dri wasn’t just a Taoist from a small monastery. As the young master of the Sun Faction, being submissive in the face of humiliation was not something he could do.

Fortunately, Auyan Dri knew he could not possibly leave the Bandit Mountains without the people in front of them, and he didn’t dare hoped these few needed his help to get out.

Four people and a child getting into the Bandit Mountains could only mean one thing: they were one hundred percent certain they could get out.

If he were to anger them, and they leave, Auyan Dri wasn’t confident he could hold out for the next Bandit attack. Therefore, despite Kaiser’s rudeness, Auyan Dri swallowed his pride, though his face clearly showed this fact.

“Well then, Auyan Dri will be the night watcher.”

Daylight saw Auyan Dri saying this forcefully, he hurriedly said, “I’ll be on the lookout with you. Liola, could you join us?”

Liola nodded. Though what Kaiser said was correct, but since Daylight had asked, Liola didn’t really care much about being on the lookout for one night.

* * *

Under the starlight, Liola stood still quietly. Other than the wind brushing through the leaves and the sound of some animals, it was completely quiet. Liola willingly accepted the worst shift of the night watch: the one in the middle.

Normally speaking, it was the worst shift to have. As soon as you fall asleep, you have to wake up to be on the lookout, and then after your shift was off, you wouldn’t have much time to sleep before you have to wake up again.

But this didn’t really affect Liola. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact it may bring Auyan Dri’s attention to himself, he’d rather just be on watch duty for the entire night.

Liola did indeed need time to think himself. He had been here before, Liola was very sure, but he could not remember why or when he was here.

Even if he didn’t care much for the place he went as an Assassin, he wouldn’t have forgotten the names of the places where he undertook a mission. This whole day Liola had been trying to recall the places he had been to throughout his missions, but he still could not remember after having gone through all of them.

This problem had bugged Liola for the whole day, which made him even more quiet than usual. Liola observed around him, trying to figure out why he felt familiarity with this place, but no matter how much he stared at the trees or the ground, Liola couldn’t find the slightest of clues.

“Say, this caterpillar is pink and it looks rather peculiar, but that’s not the reason why you’re staring at it, is it?”

Kaiser crouched next to Liola, and used a tree branch to poke at the pink caterpillar. Even though he was asking Liola a question, his eyes were fixed on the caterpillar.

Liola, on the other hand, didn’t move at all. He knew of Kaiser’s turning in bed and finally getting up, but he was curious as to why Kaiser would give up sleep. What was he doing up? It couldn’t possibly be playing with the caterpillar.

But Liola wouldn’t open his mouth first; he just quietly waited for Kaiser to tell him first.

After Kaiser had finally gotten bored with the caterpillar, he lay on the grass with his hands on his head. He stared into the night sky and said,

“There are so many stars here, and it’s much prettier than my world.”

Hearing Kaiser’s words, Liola reflexively raised his head to look into the sky. When the images of the stars projected into Liola’s silver eyes, a familiar feeling rushed into Liola’s heart.

“Say, after coming to this world, we are actually considered quite strong! Tsk, a Gold Knight could’ve made our lives miserable, and we even had quite a few run-ins with rank X people like Lancelot. It’s a miracle that we’re still alive!”

Having heard Kaiser, Liola lowered his head and looked towards Kaiser, and then said with gravity, “Sorry.”

As soon as Liola apologized, Kaiser immediately jumped up, and his blue eyes were wide open. He screamed beyond belief, “Why are you apologizing?”

Liola frowned as he remembered what Kaiser said, but it didn’t seem like those were words of comfort. Liola’s eyes were filled with confusion.

After glaring at him a few times, Kaiser reluctantly explained,

“I’m saying, since we’re living just fine, perhaps even better than in my world, you don’t have to mind dragging us to an alien world. You pulling a long face all day is putting me in a bad mood.”

Liola went silent again. He thought about it for a long while before he understood what Kaiser meant.

He asked tentatively, “You thought I had a long face all day because I dragged you into this?”

Kaiser replied suspiciously, “Yes! You don’t talk much usually, but you’ve gone a little too far today. You were practically a statue! You don’t have to talk but at least you don’t have to look at rock.”

Liola didn’t think Kaiser would misunderstand him. He shook his head and explained, “That’s not why. I have been thinking, so I’ve been quiet.”

“Thinking? You actually think? Isn’t your head filled with stones?” Kaiser yelled, making a big deal out of it.

“…” Liola decided not to respond, and went straight to the explanation,

“This place seems very familiar, as if I’ve been here before. But I’m sure I’ve never been here on a mission, so I’ve been thinking why this place feels familiar.”

Kaiser felt pained thinking about his lost sleep, but since he was already up, and to stop Liola’s stone-like face, Kaiser forced himself to think of a few possibilities for Liola.

“If it’s not a place you’ve been on a mission, then perhaps it was a place you and Anise had passed by while running away?”

Liola immediately shook his head. Those experiences were something Liola would never forget in his lifetime, no matter how small each detail was.

Every tree Anise had leaned against, every rock that had made her trip, or the clothes of their ambushers, Liola could never forget any of it. Liola was absolutely certain he and Anise had not been here while running away.

“No…?” Kaiser scratched his head, and asked, “So other than being on a mission or running away, when did you ever leave the organization?”

“Never.” Liola answered without thinking. This question was too simple: other than missions, the Leader had never allowed him to leave.

Hearing this, Kaiser immediately frowned. It was a long while before he clapped and said,

“I know! You must’ve dreamt of it while sleeping!”

Having hoped Kaiser could help him find the truth, Liola was deeply disappointed. He pouted and then ignored Kaiser.

Seeing Liola unhappy, Kaiser scratched his face, and murmured to explain, “Well, according to what you said, other than in a dream, how else could you have been here?!”

After saying this, Kaiser shut his mouth and lay down, and started counting the stars.

Hearing Kaiser’s murmur, Liola sighed. He, too, knew what Kaiser said was right, but Kaiser’s attitude made him a little angry, but it subsided shortly. He thought it pointless to have an argument with his companion over a place he felt familiar.

Imitating Kaiser, Liola, too, lay down. He looked up at the star-filled sky and the surrounding trees with circular leaves. Liola had originally decided to forget about the familiarity with this place, but this gesture made him feel even more strikingly familiar.

Liola said, “It was this angle. I had seen this place at this exact angle.”

Kaiser didn’t think Liola was the type to leisurely lie down to look at the stars. Could it be possible he was beaten down to the ground? But for someone as strong as Liola the Assassin, being bested was something he would never be able to forget, so there was no reason for Liola not to remember.

Kaiser was thinking so much his head was about to explode. And while Liola was waiting for Kaiser’s answer with anticipation, the tent where Kaiser slept suddenly opened, and something small fumbled its way out of the tent and headed towards them. As it walked, it rubbed its eyes while yawning.

“Baolilong wants to sleep with papa.” Having said so, Baolilong twisted around in Liola’s arms, and then fell asleep again.

Liola didn’t mind, and then continued to wait for Kaiser’s answer.

Kaiser, on the other hand, held his eyes wide open and stared at Baolilong in Liola’s arms. After a long while, he asked,

“Liola, how old were you when the Leader found you?”

“Around five.” Liola answered a bit strangely.

“What was the situation when he found you? Do you remember?” Kaiser asked anxiously.

Liola frowned, “Not sure. Leader told me I was lying on a rock alone at the time.”

“That’s it!”

Kaiser yelled excitedly, but Liola looked confused.

Kaiser immediately explained, “You are an idiot. If you’ve never been out of the organization other than being on a mission, and you’re sure you’ve never been here on a mission.

Since you are also sure you hadn’t been here when you were running away from the organization, then the only possibility that remains is you were here before you were in the organization!

Since you can’t remember it clearly, you must’ve been very young. And because you remember this place from this angle, you were lying on a rock alone, and that’s why you remember the sky and the trees the most.”

Liola was stunned. Hearing Kaiser’s explanation, he agreed with the guess. Was this… the place where the Leader found him?

“But there are no rocks around. So perhaps the place you were found is around here, but not here.” Kaiser shrugged, then asked, “Should we go look for it?”

Liola shook his head. He just didn’t like feeling puzzled, but since he knew the answer, then he didn’t care anymore. He had no plans to look for that rock. It was just a rock he had lain on. To Liola, the rock was no different than any other rock.

“I knew you weren’t going to look.” Kaiser yawned and stretched. He then stood up with his back bent over, then said lazily, “I’m going to sleep.”

Liola nodded.

‘You’re finally going to sleep!‘ Everyone in the tent was crying, because they would finally not be awakened by sudden screams…

Unfortunately, even without Kaiser, the heavens still didn’t seem to want to let everyone sleep. Liola had already noticed, about three hundred meters away, there were many people closing in quickly.

Liola yelled without any hesitation, “Enemies incoming!”

His yell surprised everybody. Luckily they had already been awakened by Kaiser’s loud voice. They jumped up and walked out of the tents with their weapons following Liola’s yell.

Daylight, on the other hand, had gotten used to Kaiser’s loud voice and was actually sound asleep. It wasn’t until he heard Liola’s yell that he jumped up in surprise and walked out of the tent with his pike, arriving after the dozens of servants.

Daylight looked at Liola, and he knew what Liola was capable of. Daylight asked without any hesitation, “Which direction? How many?”

Liola pointed his hand towards a direction, and said to Daylight, “Over there, about seven hundred, in a fan formation.”

Hearing the number, everyone felt numb. The number of people who could fight on their side was a measly sixty or so, thirty of which carried varying degrees of injuries. How could they possibly fight against them?

At this time, Auyan Dri walked out of the tent in a panic. He heard already heard the numbers from Liola, and his face was hard to look at.

Daylight thought momentarily and answered, “If their strengths are comparable to the ones from earlier, then it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Auyan Dri’s was shocked. Although the strengths of the Bandits were quite low, and Auyan Dri wouldn’t even bother to fight with such people under ordinary circumstances.

However, they were Bandits after all, who had muscular bodies and familiarity with battles. If he were to fight against a few Bandits, he wouldn’t dare to underestimate them, especially since they were at a ratio of one to ten.

Could the man in front of him be the pinnacle Martial Arts Master who had been hiding his skills all along? He looked at Daylight’s young face, and remembered the rumor that when one reaches the peak of Martial Arts, their physical appearance regress. Could it be true?

Because Auyan Dri suddenly spoke formally, Daylight, who had only learnt the language for a year, struggled to understand him. However, he understood roughly the meaning. He frowned, and didn’t say anything, because Daylight had sensed that the enemies were near.

He said to Auyan Dri, “Please, everyone stand back. Li… My second brother apprentice and I will handle this.”

Auyan Dri heard him, he was even more surprised. ‘Two of them could take care of seven hundred Bandits?’

“That’s not possible!”

Yulie also appeared, just in time to hear what Daylight said, but not in time to stop Daylight.

She panicked and yelled towards Auyan Dri, “Hurry! Cousin, hurry! We have to go and help him!”

Hearing the panicked scream, Auyan Dri’s face turned pale. Countless thoughts rushed through his mind, and finally a hint of jealousy appeared on his face.

He tried to comfort Yulie, “Don’t worry. Hero Daylight has amazing strength, and his brother was able to notice the enemies from hundreds of meters away. They must be very confident they could defeat them, so they asked everyone to stand back.”

“Really? Apprentice brother.”

Yulie still seemed undecided, but she did remember that Daylight’s strength was indeed astonishing, and he even had a demon with him. His brother apprentice also seemed to have incredible strength. Perhaps they really were confident.

Liola didn’t like to fight for no reason, especially when the opponents were simply Bandits without Martial Arts background.

Daylight nodded. Seven hundred Bandits could probably be handled by two dragons. Daylight commanded the little Flames next to him, and it immediately flew into the sky, then turned into a ten-meter tall Dragon.

Flames let out a mighty Dragon roar, and the Bandits beneath it felt shivers ran through their spine. When they looked up at the sky, they felt a chill sent down to their bones, turning them into lifeless statues.

A Snow-White Dragon also appeared behind them: while everyone was in shock, Liola used the opportunity to ask Baolilong to transform, and then fly up to rendezvous with Flames.

Both sides were in terror as the Dragons appeared. As ambushers, the Bandits burst into screams and tears, especially when they saw Flames and Baolilong flying towards them.

The Bandits lost all will to fight, and they were fumbling as they tried to escape. Those who were in the front were now furthest in the back, and they were pushing others away as they ran. Everyone was terrified of being caught by these giant creatures.

Having its dreams disturbed by these intruders, Flames was not going to let them go easily. It threw a series of fireballs at them.

Although Flames obeyed the order to not kill, these fireballs were enough to put a few dozen of them onto the ground while moaning in pain. Despite their injuries, they desperately rolled around, trying to extinguish the fire on their clothing.

Baolilong, who followed the lower ranked Dragon Flames, wasn’t willing to let it have all the fun, so it threw out a ball of lightning.

The difference between the fireballs and the ball of lightning, was it exploded when it reached above the Bandits’ heads, and bolts of lightning shot out from it. If the people underneath were Knights, they could have stopped the bolts with a simple aura.

Unfortunately, they were ordinary Bandits, and even if some of them had basic Ki techniques, they couldn’t stop the electric bolts. A few more dozens of them fell to the ground as a result.

Although they’ve only lost a seventh of their forces, the terrifying powers of these two creatures had broken their will to fight, and they all ran for their lives.

Daylight saw the Bandits trying to escape while panicking, and his benevolence caused him to command Flames to stop. When he wanted to also stop Baolilong, it seemed to have gotten addicted to playing.

Baolilong charged forward, and threw balls of lightning in every direction, each downing a dozen Bandits. Even though they only had minor injuries, but their charred skins looked horrific.

The Bandits desperately ran away from the “white beast”, but Baolilong chased them, and dropped a dozen more with lightning.

They screamed and ran in a different direction, but the winged “beast” was much faster than them, and it caught up with more lightning bolts. Then the Bandits turned around to run the other way…

‘Baolilong, stop playing.’ Liola frowned, and said via telepathy.

Baolilong was unhappy, but nevertheless obeyed Liola’s orders, but not before it threw a few more powerful balls of lightning, and then it “shut” its mouth. It also flapped its wings a few more times, to scare the people trying to escape.

At this time, a few figures quickly moved through the Bandits with a much faster speed, in the direction opposite of the escaping Bandits. It caught Liola’s attention, and Liola reminded Baolilong to be careful via telepathy, and then he rushed over.

A few figures jumped up at the same time, and landed palm strikes on Baolilong. Liola was too far away to help.

After a painful howl, Baolilong’s anger surfaced, and had completely forgotten Liola’s order to stop. A ball of lightning was shot out from its mouth, and it instantly exploded with hundreds of bolts shooting out.

These few people seemed to be shocked, but they were still able to evade the bolts of lightning.

Unfortunately, the other Bandits in the area didn’t possess such dexterity, and they fell to the ground with charred skins, with wounds far worse than the ones before.

Normally they would have been able to yell a few times and got up to run for their lives. However these people, though their lives were not at risk, were on the ground with convulsions, and could not get up.

“That motherf—ing monster!” The more muscular person in the group swore as he saw his fellow Bandits in such tragic state.

Liola also slowed down. Having his mind connected to Baolilong’s, Liola realized Baolilong was in pain but did not sustain any injuries. Even so, Liola allowed Baolilong to chase after those people, since it hadn’t been played in the form of a Dragon for quite some time.

Baolilong wanted to play a game of tag, but no matter how much it roared, the people in front of it did not move. Although they seemed scared, they did not back away; instead, they remained alert, in case the Dragon would suddenly attack.

The muscular man glared at Baolilong as he argued with the few people next to him.

“Hurry up and use White Snake!” The muscular man yelled.

The other three looked hesitant, “But… White Snake is very difficult to control. If it goes crazy, we wouldn’t be able to control it.”

“Second brother, if we don’t use it, we will be destroyed by this creature.” The muscular man seemed panicked.

Baolilong, who was ignored at this time, was very unhappy. It flew by low in the air to use its wings to swipe at these three.

Their faces sank as they dodged, and it was obvious that they were panicking. Other than the muscular man, the other two also seemed angry now, especially a quiet, thin man, who yelled angrily,

“Lowly creature! If I don’t kill you, then I’m not the Viper Gang’s leader!”

“Brother!” The muscular man seemed very happy after hearing this declaration. Failing twice in one day would be far too humiliating.

Liola became more alert. After telling Baolilong to be careful, Liola turned his head to look at Daylight’s situation. He saw Flames circling above the tents.

After knowing Liola went over to the Bandits, Daylight, who knew of his power, had no plans to come along, but instead defended the tents.

Liola nodded, because now all he had to worry about was Baolilong and nothing else. Liola’s ghostly speed allowed him to quietly walk near those three without them noticing.

The thin tall man slowly took out something from his hidden shirt pocket. Liola did not know how to react to this thing because; after all… taking out an egg wasn’t illegal, right?

Liola curiously looked at these three grown man taking out an egg with fear on their faces. The tall thin man was holding the egg as if it were something that could cause a genocide: fearful yet reliant on it.

The tall thin man seemed to have made up his mind. He bit his own finger, and put it against the egg.

It’s not that Liola didn’t have time to stop them, but he was confident, both in himself and Baolilong, believing no matter what these men did, it would not affect him nor Baolilong much. He decided to let them use their secret weapon, while letting Baolilong have all the fun it wanted.

After the man smeared blood on the eggshell, the blood formed strange circle. Blood-red light exploded from that strange shape, and became larger and larger after it had separated from the shell. Finally, the circle reached the size of a man, and the circle emitted a dim light, while a giant figure slowly emerged on top of it.

Liola was a bit stunned. He thought, was he becoming too unfamiliar with his own world? How come he never knew such a thing existed?

At this time, Kaiser suddenly walked out of his tent. His jaws were dropped and his eyes were wide open and, in complete disbelief, he stared at the shape in the air as well as the thing about to emerge from it…

Chapter 4 : Battle between a Dragon and a Snake

White Snake? Liola was a little shocked when he saw the giant creature in the air. It looked like a simple snake, but infinitely larger than an ordinary one.

Despite the fact it didn’t have a muscular body like Baolilong, it was far longer. Also, the back of the White Snake had a pair of giant wings, and they actually looked identical to Dragon wings. This made Baolilong really unhappy, and it let out a provoking Dragon roar.

The Dragon and Snake confronted each other in the air. The three people who summoned the White Snake had moved quite a distance away, to avoid becoming collateral damage of the fight between the Dragon and Snake.

* * *

Moments ago, Kaiser had plans to continue sleeping in the tent, considering no Bandit could ever stand up to Liola and Daylight. But as the fight raged on outside, Kaiser suddenly sensed a magical fluctuation. If he was still inside Aklan Academy, it wouldn’t be strange at all, since even a Holy Knight’s heal would emit a magical wave. However, this was an alien world devoid of magic!

“Damn! What the hell?” Kaiser fumbled his way out of the tent. He looked at the figure of the White Snake as it was forming. He was certain of what he saw: a summoning magic circle!

No matter what Kaiser’s analysis was, Liola felt a headache coming. He didn’t expect these people could possibly summon such a large monster, and he would’ve stopped them if he knew sooner. Unfortunately, even for Liola, turning back time was impossible. He ordered Baolilong to fly lower, so he could jump onto its back.

Having jumped up onto Baolilong, Liola realized the White Snake was on its tail, trying to bite Baolilong’s tail.

With a few leaps, Liola went towards Baolilong’s tail. Originally he planned on jumping onto the Snake to fight it, but he changed his mind. He thought about it a moment, then used telepathy to tell Baolilong the Snake was trying to bite its tail.

Baolilong swung its tail. Not only did the White Snake miss, it was hit by Baolilong’s flailing tail, which resulted in it having difficulty flying.

Baolilong used the opportunity to give chase. It threw out a giant ball of lightning. The snake could not move much, so most of its body was hit by lightning. Despite it spent a short while convulsing, the White Snake suddenly bit back. The complacent Baolilong got bitten, then shook its body in pain.

Liola frowned, but he didn’t plan on helping Baolilong. Instead, he continued to command Baolilong, much like how Daylight commanded Flames.

“You can fly better than it. Circle it, and attack when you have the chance.”

Liola gave the orders to Baolilong. The little guy thought it strange papa didn’t attack, but warmonger Baolilong didn’t really care, because it had the chance to play.

Baolilong followed Liola’s orders, and flew quickly around the giant White Snake. Although the Snake tried its best to match Baolilong’s speed, its elongated body prevented it from doing so, to the point where it sometimes ran into its own tail.

Baolilong was having fun. Seeing the Snake could not catch up, and it would often collide with itself. Baolilong was so happy, it was laughing. It completely forgot everything papa said about attacking when the time was right.

The White Snake seemed very angry. Its mouth suddenly opened, and a blue light began to shine.

Liola was shocked, and immediately reminded the playful Baolilong. Baolilong opened its pink eyes and looked at it; it too was stunned. It did not expect the White Snake could use the same type of magical attack as Flames. It wasn’t until after another call from Liola did Baolilong actually wake up from this daze.

A blue stream of light shot out of the White Snake’s mouth. It was so fast that, despite being prepared for it, Baolilong barely avoided it. The White Snake didn’t seem to give up, and shot a few more rays of light at Baolilong, who again barely managed to avoid it.

‘Baolilong, Your Highness, please be careful. Those are water magical attacks.‘ Flames reminded from afar, knowing water attacks were the most devastating attacks against the fire-attributed Dragon; Flames.

“Baolilong is really angry this time!”

Baolilong, who had been awkwardly dodging the light attacks, opened its eyes, which turned from pink to a deep wine-red color. It opened its mouth, and a wide stream of electricity shot towards the White Snake.

The snake responded by shooting out a wider stream of water than before. Baolilong’s blue and white electricity collided with the White Snake’s deep blue water attack, exploding with a giant sound. For a moment, the night sky had been lit up, as if it were still day time.

At first, the electricity and water seemed to be evenly matched. But seconds later, the White Snake looked like it was in pain, and at the same time, its snow-white head started becoming charred.

Liola looked closely, realizing the snake’s column of water had bolts of electricity intertwined within, and those lightning bolts were what injured the Snake.

Baolilong narrowed its eyes, and the power of its lightning attack suddenly exploded. The White Snake’s water stream was then immediately dispersed, and it was hit by the lightning.

After a painful struggle in midair, the White Snake fell out of the sky. Its loud landing sound shocked everyone, especially the three Bandits who had been staying far away. They almost couldn’t believe their White Snake would lose!

After the loud sound, Baolilong let out a happy roar. At the same time, a few sparks of electricity exploded around it. Under the starry night sky, Baolilong’s sacred figure had been deeply imprinted into everyone’s minds. People who originally thought of it as a demon felt weak in their knees, and knelt without saying a single word.

Liola realized the three Bandits began to move; they were trying to run for their lives, with disappointment on their faces.

Liola thought briefly, and decided not to pursue. After all, they were in the Bandit Mountains. They were the ones who trespassed, so could he really blame them for trying to rob him and his group?

The Bandits saw their leaders had escaped, so they all followed straining every bit of strength they had left. In an instant, most of them had disappeared.

“Liola, I don’t think we should chase them?”

Daylight came over with Flames, and suggested uneasily to Liola, not knowing Liola’s plan. Liola nodded, and told Baolilong to land where they were. Daylight also followed with Flames. As soon as Flames turned back into a smaller Dragon, they heard a loud yell.

“W-wait!” Kaiser had ran to where they were while gasping. It wasn’t until he caught Liola and Daylight’s attention did he have a chance to catch his breath. He even hit patted his chest and said, “Damn, I-I’ve never ran so fast in my life.”

“The way the White Snake appeared, don’t you think it was a bit strange?” Kaiser widened his eyes and said to the Assassin, “Especially you, you don’t think your world has something like that, do you?”

“No.” Liola shook his head naturally, since he was already confused by it.

Kaiser suddenly yelled, “Of course you’ve never seen it. The circular shape just now was a Sorcerer’s summoning circle! I f—ing swear, if those magic fluctuations were fake, I’ll eat Baolilong whole and kill myself in the process!”

Liola and Daylight were in shock. ‘There’s Sorcerer’s summoning circle in this world?’

“Okay, hurry and let me get up. We have to chase after those people, and find out what’s going on… Wait! I don’t mean you, Liola. I’m never riding your stupid Dragon. Its ability to kill its allies is far better than its ability to kill enemies!”

With Kaiser’s serious statement and Baolilong’s puffed cheeks, Kaiser got on Flame’s back. Kaiser sensed the weak magic fluctuation in the area and pointed it out to Daylight.

Daylight looked back and asked with hesitation, “What about others? We should at least take Void with us, right?”

“We can go back for Void, but forget about the others. After this battle, I don’t believe anyone else would dare to come mess with Auyan Dri and others.” Kaiser said impatiently.

Daylight agreed and did as Kaiser asked. He flew back over the crowd, grabbed Void, who looked like he was about to turn and run. Daylight thought about it briefly, and thought he should still tell Auyan Dri and Yulie what they were about to do.

“Dri, Yulie, we will be pursuing the Bandits. You guys should leave first. I don’t think Bandits will come after you again, but it would be safer for you to leave now.”

Auyan Dri seemed frozen, as if he still hadn’t recovered from seeing the fight before. He blankly nodded at Daylight, hoping he would take ‘Red Demon’ away.

“Hurry, the magic is getting further and further away, and I almost can’t feel it.” Kaiser urged.

Daylight nodded and immediately commanded Flames to fly towards the direction Kaiser pointed, but a girly yell made Daylight turn his head.

“Daylight! Wait, will we see each other again?” Seeing Daylight was about to leave, Yulie suddenly snapped from her daydream and yelled anxiously.

Daylight looked at Yulie, and said with a smile, “Yes, at the Martial Arts Symposium!”

“You have to be there!” Yulie yelled on top of her lungs, but seeing Daylight was already far away, she wasn’t sure whether he had heard her or not. She felt a bit disappointed.

“I will!”

Daylight’s answer came from afar. Yulie raised her head once again, gazing in the direction where Daylight went. A smile slowly surfaced on her face.

Auyan Dri’s mind was in a mess. Memories kept flashing across his mind: Daylight’s amiable personality, strong power, and those two terrible demons; finally, Yulie’s smile…

* * *

“Second brother, who were those people? Those two demons…” said Chen Yong, a buff man — one of the three Bandits. The earlier fight was far beyond their imaginations.

Being the advisor in the group, Wong Shujun said with a pale face, “How would I know?”

“I know everything about astronomy and geography.” Wong Shujun said lividly. He thought nobody would know about those two demons, not even in Many Ears Hall — a place specializing in selling information and intelligence — did not know how those demons came about, let alone him.

“Alright! You two stop fighting.” The thin, tall man, Lin Jiyun, interrupted the two in anger.

Lin Jiyun sat down with a headache. Earlier, when his subordinates reported a failure in robbery, and the intended victims had a sun icon on their attires. His second brother Wong Shujun had informed him of it belonging to the Sun Faction, and therefore he inferred the person commanding must have been the young master, Auyan Dri, of the Sun Faction.

He had originally thought if he could send more people and go there themselves, he could abduct Auyan Dri, and use him to extort money from the Sun Faction. Who knew two strangers would show up with two demons, forcing him to use the White Snake.

And in the end, they still lost. Lin Jiyun’s face was as depressed as it could be. The White Snake had cost him a lot of money, and he was going to use it to seek revenge, but now it had been squandered.

“Don’t worry, eldest brother, we’ll just have to make a few more business deals, and buy a few more monsters from that person. Your quest for revenge will be fulfilled one day.”

Lin Jiyun’s expression suddenly changed, and he held up his hand to stop Wong Shujun from talking. A moment of silence later, Lin Jiyun couldn’t sense anything, then withdrew his hand. It was strange for him to feel someone was near.

“Eldest brother, you’re being too nervous. This is our cottage. Even the Bandits around here wouldn’t know how to find it. Those demons didn’t follow us immediately, so how could they have possibly find us?” Chen Yong had absolutely confidence in the location of the cottage.

“Hmmph.”

Chen Yong turned towards Wong Shujun, and yelled loudly, “What? Second brother, you were the one who set up this place. If you’re afraid someone could find it, then you’re looking down on yourself.”

Wong Shujun’s eyes were held wide, and terror crept onto his face. Lin Jiyun also stood up, and asked with a trembling voice, “Second brother, was it you who grunted just now…”

Wong Shujun rigidly shook his head, and Chen Yong started to get scared. He yelled loudly, “It wasn’t you, second brother? You’re just kidding me, right? Stop it, second brother!”

“Hehe.”

Now all of them were panicking, trying to look around to find the source of the voice, while trying to pray in their own strange ways: “I’m hoping it’s a ghost!”, “Better a ghost than those demons.”, and “God! Though I don’t believe in ghosts, I will start to now; give me ghosts!”

“What are you guys looking left and right for? Look up.”

A voice said to the three below. The voice didn’t sound like a ghost. It was neither dark nor horrific. If they had to describe the voice, they would say it sounded like someone who deserved a beatdown.

They were shocked, then slowly raised their heads. The first thing they saw was a boy with green hair sitting on the beam of the house.

With his white teeth showing, he greeted them with a big smile, “Hi!”

The three of them felt a cold shiver all the way to their hearts. They also saw a silver-eyed man and a gold-eyed man next to the boy. Although they had no idea who the green-haired little runt was, they knew other two were the people who controlled the demons they saw.

“AHHH!”

Chen Yong screamed, and with a shaking finger, he pointed at little Flames next to Daylight. Flames lazily looked back at him, as if he were making a big deal out of nothing.

Both sides held still as they looked at each other. Lin Jiyun took a deep breath, and bleakly sat back down on a chair. He tiredly waved his hand and said, “If you’re here to arrest us, go ahead. I know our powers aren’t remotely a match for you.”

Wong Shujun heard they could bargain their way out of this, and immediately began to speak, “We will definitely cooperate. As long as heroes like you are here, we will do whatever if it’s within our powers.”

“Shut up.”

Kaiser grabbed Liola and Daylight, whom then helped him off the beam. Void also went down with them. Having the guys to back him up, Kaiser said with a condescending tone to the three Bandits, “I will cut right to the chase then. How do you guys know about summoning magic circle?”

“Summoning what?” Wong Shujun was stunned, and he didn’t know what Kaiser meant.

Kaiser explained impatiently, “The magic circle you used to summon the White Snake.”

Wong Shujun frowned, and then looked towards the eldest brother Lin Jiyun because he didn’t know how to answer.

Lin Jiyun’s face also sank. The person who sold him was not someone Lin Jiyun dared to rat on. If that person knew he did, he would die sooner or later.

“Why would you want to know?” Lin Jiyun asked carefully, thinking. If these people wanted to buy some themselves, then it would be fine.

Kaiser rolled his eyes, and said without any elaboration, “Just an exchanging information, you know, since we have two of those things.”

Lin Jiyun then asked, “Are you related to that person?”

‘We’re related to that person?‘ Kaiser immediately began to analyze the situation.

Judging from Wong Shujun’s response, they probably didn’t even know what summoning magic circles were. Perhaps it was given to them by the person whom Lin Jiyun referred to that person.

Also judging from his name for that person, it wasn’t someone he was familiar with, but instead just someone he feared. Otherwise, he wouldn’t withhold the name when his own life was in danger.

At this point, Kaiser smiled, and began to do what he did best, “That person? Is that what you call him? Well… indeed, his name can’t just be said to everyone.”

[T/N: In spoken chinese, he/she sounds the same. Author chose to use he/him here, but it may not necessarily guaranteed the person he’s referring to is a guy.]

Lin Jiyun thought Kaiser definitely knew that person. He began to worry whether the person in front of him was a partner or an enemy of that person.

“Such nostalgic times! I remember when we used to study together.” Kaiser posed as if he was remembering the past.

“You studied together with him?”

Lin Jiyun was not the only person in awe: Wong Shujun and Chen Yong both widened their gazes and examined Kaiser.

Kaiser, too, knew his lies had been a mistake, and then immediately said angrily, “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not how you imagine me to be.”

In the current situation, Kaiser, who didn’t know what went wrong, just said something ambiguous, hoping to brush it off.

Lin Jiyun was briefly stunned, but then nodded as if he understood. Perhaps it was because of the inconceivable powers of the two demons displayed has already messed with their minds. It was easier for them to believe the people in front of them had gotten so powerful in martial arts, their physical age had regressed, rather than being young.

As if he had thought of something, Lin Jiyun suddenly stood up, and bowed towards Kaiser. He apologized, “Understood. Junior Lin Jiyun had not realized you as the senior, and Jiyun hereby apologizes to senior.”

[T/N: In formal archaic speech, younger people generally speak respectfully to elder people, and refer to themselves as “late generation”; ‘junior’ here. They refer to the elder people as “front/early generation”; ‘senior’ here.]

‘Hmm… looks like this guy must be quite old,’ Kaiser was laughing in his mind.

The Lin Jiyun guy looked like he was in his thirty, but he was calling Kaiser, who had just turned twenty, his senior? But on the surface, Kaiser nodded with satisfaction. He learnt his posture from the geezer Master Lee, guaranteed to look like a senior.

Void’s head was full of sweat. As soon as he saw, he knew Kaiser was imitating his own master. Void was holding back a laugh so hard, his abdominal muscles were almost torn.

“Youngster Jiyun, no need to be overly courteous. An old fellow like me is not overdramatic. Hahaha.”

Kaiser gave out a hearty laugh, which made Daylight blush on his behalf. At the same time, he felt sorry for the people whom Kaiser tricked.

Daylight immediately reminded Kaiser, “Let’s find out the truth now.”

Kaiser originally wanted to enjoy the feeling of being a senior, but since Daylight was hurrying him, Kaiser scratched his face.

“May I dare to ask, senior, these two people are…?” Lin Jiyun asked curiously.

“Oh, my eldest brother and second brother.” Kaiser answered casually.

“Lin Jiyun is grateful to meet the two seniors.” Lin Jiyun bowed twice more, which made Daylight blush. He felt uneasy and apologetic at the same time.

Liola, on the other hand, glanced at Lin Jiyun casually.

“You are really unlike a Bandit. I thought all Bandits were quite rough: they yell at everything and scream things like ‘kill it’ or ‘beat it’.”

Kaiser examined Lin Jiyun. Though he was dressed like a Bandit with his rough attire, his temperament was more like a scholar… Even Wong Shujun on the side looked more like a scholar than a Bandit, although Chen Yong did indeed look like one.

Seeing the three were acting weird, Kaiser’s curiosity was provoked again, and he asked, “What?”

Facing Kaiser’s inquiry, Lin Jiyun shook his head and laughed bitterly. However, Chen Yong couldn’t hold back, and he broke the silence,

“That’s because eldest brother and second brother weren’t Bandits at all. They were framed by a villain and they ran into these mountains for refuge. It was then when I met them, and even fought with them. It was the best battle of my life because I got to met them and I eventually I recognized them as my brothers.”

Lin Jiyun looked distracted as he recollected what happened, and Wong Shujun coughed,

“We felt ambitious originally, and hoping to expand our powers here in the mountains, waiting for the one day where we could seek our revenge. Who knew it would be so difficult even trying to keep our comrades fed.

Most of the business people travelling through either have a large band of guards or they paid the protection fees to some Bandit ring and made them their guards. Otherwise, why would we endanger ourselves to rob people of martial artist? We really had no other choice…”

“Why can’t you rob the adjacent villages and cities?” Kaiser widened his eyes, and smelled something he had always disliked: the smell of being poor.

“Uh…” Lin Jiyun suddenly woke up from his daydream, and explained with embarrassment,

“Most people in villages are poor, and they have no money. If we were to rob them of their only food, then they may not survive the winter. And we cannot possibly plunder a city with our numbers at around seven to eight hundred.”

Void also nodded constantly, agreeing to what Lin Jiyun and others had done.

Lin Jiyun heard Daylight’s praise, and his face turned red. He could do nothing but stutter as he thanked Daylight for his praise.

“Good? More like, really poor.” Kaiser murmured.

Kaiser wanted to extort some money out of these people. Who knew these Bandits had no money up their sleeves… Correction! They didn’t even have sleeves to begin with.

“Fine, fine, just hurry up and tell us where that person is?!”

Kaiser began to yell, fearing Daylight and the Bandits would become too familiar with one another, and would help them seek revenge. If it so happens, then Kaiser would’ve lost his fly without catching a single trout.

Lin Jiyun nodded, and answered courteously, “Since senior was a classmate of that person, then I shouldn’t hide anything anymore. As far as Jiyun know, that person seems to be the leader of the Shalong Hall.”

“Salon? I don’t want to get my hair cut.” Kaiser murmured.

Hearing about Shalong Hall, Liola’s face suddenly froze. Fortunately, no one’s attention was on him so nobody realized something was wrong. Liola locked his eyebrows, and his mind seemed to have wandered off. An air of coldness also seemed to manifest around him.

“Did I catch a cold? Why does it feel like it’s getting colder and colder?” Kaiser frowned as he pulled his shirt, but he couldn’t shake away the coldness he felt in his heart.

Lin Jiyun casually glanced at Liola, but was suddenly turned into a human popsicle.

Wong Shuju looked strangely at his eldest brother then looked in the direction where he was looking. Who knew that as soon as he did, his teeth began to chatter and he couldn’t speak.

Chen Yong, whose resistance to harsh environments was far better, followed their gazes and, though he didn’t freeze, began to yell strangely.

Kaiser looked strangely at Chen Yong, while Daylight and Void turned to look at Liola when they realized something was wrong. Both of them gulped, then slowly stepped back, leaving Kaiser the only one to stand where he was.

Kaiser shook again, trying to rub his arms and feet for warmth, and he yelled, “What now? Is there a ghost or something?”

Daylight and Void struggled as they tried to communicate with their eyes, to the point where their eyelids were almost having a seizure. It wasn’t until then that Kaiser scratched his face and slowly turned…

“Hey! Liola, why the hell are you being a human icemaker?”

Kaiser immediately took several steps back. He hid behind Daylight and popped his head out, “What are you doing?”

Liola’s face kept getting colder, and just about when everyone couldn’t take it anymore, he slowly said, “Shalong Hall is the largest Assassin organization.”

‘Assassin organization? Leader…’

Kaiser suddenly remembered the Leader was Liola’s boss. He shook a bit to dust off the frost on his shoulder, then walked up to Liola while everyone else was in awe, and patted his shoulder,

“They’re just Assassins. What are you afraid of now?”

Liola woke up from his daze, and looked at Kaiser with hesitation.

Kaiser, on the other hand, punched Liola in the chest, and yelled impatient, “Stop being a wuss! So what of the top Assassin organization? If one comes we will kill two, if two comes we will kill their entire organization! Leader? Hmmph, I’ll cook him alive.”

“You said that person is the leader of Shalong Hall? How could the three of you see him?”

“Senior, do you really know that person?” Wong Shujun’s face suddenly changed. Judging from what Kaiser had just said, it didn’t seem like they actually knew that person.

Kaiser turned his head, and showed a terrifying laugh, then said directly, “Oh, I don’t.”

Lin Jiyun and others felt as if they had been struck by thunder, and they didn’t know what to do.

“Hey, since you already leaked his identity, it’s too late for regret. You better tell us everything now, otherwise you’ll force us to do something to make you wish he’d come here and kill you, hehe.”

A looming shadow covered Kaiser’s child-like face. In all honesty, he still wasn’t that scary, but for the Bandits who had seen two Dragons, it was enough.

Chen Yong was the first one to be enraged. He unsheathed his blade and charged at Kaiser as he yelled angrily, “You dared to trick us?!”

Kaiser saw this, and immediately drew out his giant gun.

Liola, who was standing on the side, was also paying attention to the situation. If there were any possibility of hurting Kaiser, Liola will immediately stop it. Nevertheless, despite Kaiser’s power being low, it was more than enough to handle Chen Yong.

Kaiser quickly murmured some incantations, and a giant fireball shot out of the gun at Chen Yong, whom had no idea what a fireball was.

Chen Yong panicked as he tried to dodge, but was still grazed by half of the fireball. He was pushed into a corner with his clothes burning. Chen Yong desperately rolled around, trying to extinguish the fire.

Lin Jiyun and Wong Shujun immediately went to him to help him extinguish the fire. Having finally put out the fire, Lin Jiyun gasped as he looked at his two brothers, then he seemed to have made up his mind about something. He walked in front of Kaiser, then knelt down and began to kowtow.

“Eldest brother?”

Wong Shujun and Chen Yong both yelled in surprise, and they wanted to come to get him up, but Lin Jiyun immediately yelled, “You two, don’t move!”

Wong Shujun and Chen Yong both froze, but anger filled their faces. Lin Jiyun was practically on the ground, and said with a muffled voice,

“Senior, anything you want to know, Lin Jiyun can tell you, but Lin Jiyun begs senior to let Shujun and Yong out of this. I dragged both of them into this. Also, senior, please don’t go to that person yet; please allow Jiyun to make one more deal with him, because Jiyun needs the monster to right an injustice.”

Seeing Lin Jiyun kneeling on the ground and hearing what he had said, Daylight immediately felt sympathetic.

He looked at Kaiser with blame, “Kaiser, you’ve gone too far,” as he walked over and tried to help Lin Jiyun up.

Kaiser frowned, looking as if he had done nothing wrong, “I didn’t do anything. I just tricked them, that’s all, who knew he was going to start kowtowing?”

Daylight was trying to help Lin Jiyun up, but he wouldn’t budge. He desperately struggled, while banging his forehead on the ground a few more times.

The loud sound of the collision struck awe in everyone’s heart, and fresh blood appeared on the ground. When Daylight saw it he was surprised and forcefully held Lin Jiyun so he wouldn’t injure himself any further.

“What are you doing? You think your forehead is too hard?” Kaiser widened his gaze, and looked in disbelief at Lin Jiyun with blood now dripping down his face.

Even though Lin Jiyun was held in place forcefully by Daylight, but with bloodshot eyes he continued to struggle, to the point where his bones made cracking sounds.

Daylight was shocked and, fearing he might break his bones, eased up his hold. Lin Jiyun used this opportunity to break free and ran towards Kaiser.

Liola immediately shadow-stepped in front of Kaiser to prevent any possible injury, but all Lin Jiyun did was, once again, kneeling before Kaiser while kowtowing.

His voice was even more pitiful, “Senior! I beg of you. Allow Jiyun to go find that person first because Jiyun really needs those demons! O-otherwise, my entire family’s death will be in vain; even my ten year-old baby sister did not escape the massacre.

My father, h-he also died to protect Jiyun, and my family could not even give him a proper burial because we couldn’t even obtain his corpse. The only one left who could bring them justice and allow them to rest in peace is Jiyun. I beg of you, senior!”

Kaiser was frozen. At first, he pursued this matter because it was amusing to him. As a Sorcerer, he was very curious as to why summoning magic circles would appear in this world, but he had never imagined it would end up like this.

It was then when Wong Shujun and Chen Yong both quietly walked over. Without saying a word, they followed their brother and knelt on the ground while kowtowing.

Suddenly, the only thing that could be heard in the cottage, was the terrifying sound of their heads banging against the floor. The floor was also gradually becoming stained with blood.

Kaiser looked at them quietly. When Daylight and Void were moving to help them up, Kaiser blinked, and gestured with his hand to knock them unconscious.

As soon as he had done so, Liola’s figure blinked, and Lin Jiyun and his brothers were knocked out on the floor.

“Good! Now, it’s time for us to think about what to do.”

Kaiser sported a serious face, which was rare for him to do. His blue eyes suddenly looked as deep as the blue ocean…

Chapter 5 : Tragedy of Lin’s Family

Daylight and Void were just about to plead to Kaiser on behalf of Lin Jiyun and others, but Kaiser spoke first,

“Although I don’t know what exactly happened, it looks like the person they’re trying to kill is probably in a high position. Hundreds of Bandits seemed useless to this guy’s quest for revenge.

What’s even more puzzling is that this guy said they bought the monster, and White Snake must have cost a lot of money. Why did he use money to buy a monster instead of just hiring the Shalong Hall to assassinate the man instead?”

Everyone looked puzzled, and Kaiser continued, “So it leaves only two possibilities. First, Lin Jiyun didn’t have enough money to order a hit. The second, and worst case scenario; his enemy is so powerful that Shalong Hall didn’t want to mess with him, and denied the job.”

“Anyhow, if we were to help this guy with his quest for revenge, we will probably have to put in a lot of effort, and perhaps end up opposing the strongest powers of this world. Are you guys mentally prepared?” Kaiser raised his eyebrows, and lazily waited for everyone’s answer.

However, everyone glared at Kaiser, because they could not believe what he had just said. Wasn’t he the person who hated trouble and helping others the most?

“Kaiser, you… if you really don’t want to help them, it’s probably fine. At least we wouldn’t go look for the leader, and it counts as fulfilling Lin Jiyun’s request.” Daylight said with a stutter and a frown.

“What are you talking about? I already said I’d help.” Kaiser glanced strangely at Daylight.

“You’re really going to help them?” Void’s jaws dropped, “Are you sure you’re not trying to use them as bait or something?”

“Tsk! What are you staring at me for? Whatever. I thought I’d be merciful for once, but then everyone starts doubting me. Hmph! Forget it then, I won’t help.” Kaiser grunted, then sat down with his legs crossed on the master seat of the house.

Seeing Kaiser like this, Liola’s mouth twitched a little. He knew very well Kaiser wasn’t going to stop helping. Instead, he was waiting for Daylight and Void to apologize to him. Kaiser is someone who isn’t willing to back off.

Daylight and Void looked at each other, then they both walked up to Kaiser. Daylight said first, “I’m truly sorry, Kaiser, I shouldn’t have doubted you. I really am sorry.”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Void hereby apologizes to you, Kaiser, please think of something to help these three.” Void said anxiously.

Since they both apologized, Kaiser sat up lazily. He murmured as he asked Daylight to wake Lin Jiyun and others, “You guys are forcing me to think again. Sometimes I really wonder if your large heads are really watermelons in disguise.”

Void smiled in embarrassment. For some reason, it became a habit for him to ask Kaiser what to do when he didn’t know. He was another victim of the ‘When you have a problem, ask Kaiser’ infectious disease.

Lin Jiyun slowly opened his eyes and was briefly at loss, when he suddenly remembered he was begging someone. He forced his body to get up to kneel in front of Kaiser again.

Daylight held him still. Lin Jiyun began to struggle again, so Daylight yelled, “We already planned to help you, so don’t kneel anymore.”

Hearing what Daylight said, Lin Jiyun was stunned, and looked towards Kaiser. He saw Kaiser pouted then nodded. This slight nod made Lin Jiyun and his brother so happy, they began to cry. The scene of three grown man hugging each other and crying made everyone else have goosebumps.

“All right! Now quickly tell us what exactly happened, and who is your enemy?” With his hair standing up, Kaiser immediately stopped the three from giving them any more goosebumps.

Lin Jiyun wiped away his tears in embarrassment, and began to retell the past. “My father was the previous Martial Arts Alliance Leader’s most trusted advisor.”

Void widened his eyes and asked, “You are Lin Jizhi’s son?”

Lin Jiyun nodded, and Kaiser prompt him to continue.

Lin Jiyun’s tone grew heavy, “More than a year ago, an Assassin organization, Shalong Hall, had released the healer Anise under heavy pressure from all factions of Martial Arts. But before long, Shalong Hall’s top Assassin Silver Moon kidnapped the healer Anise.”

Kaiser and Daylight both restrained themselves from looking at Liola, praying in their heart that, when the story ends, Liola wasn’t going to end up being Lin Jiyun’s nemesis.

Hearing the past made Liola look a bit depressed.

‘In the eyes of the others,’ he thought, ‘I was someone who had “kidnapped” Anise?’

“Shalong Hall declared to the public that Silver Moon had betrayed them.”

Lin Jiyun said with a frown, “In order to save Anise and prevent any more danger caused by an uncontrollable Assassin, the Martial Arts Alliance Leader at the time decided to personally pursue and kill Silver Moon.”

“No one had predicted Silver Moon’s power to be beyond everyone’s imagination. Even with the combined force of the Assassin organization and the entire Martial Arts world, they were not able to kill him, and he was able to escape for nearly a month.” Lin Jiyun sighed deeply, “Silver Moon even brought an ordinary woman with him. What kind of terrifying power did he have…”

“Don’t tell me the person you want to kill for revenge is the Assassin, Silver Moon?” Kaiser finally couldn’t hold it anymore and asked, so the suspense could stop killing him and his companions.

“No, Silver Moon is already dead. Didn’t you know?” Lin Jiyun asked back with a strange expression on his face.

Uh… how could they answer? Kaiser said calmly, “We’re from a land far away, and we’re not familiar with what happens around here.”

Lin Jiyun thought briefly, and concluded the demons they had indeed weren’t from around here, so the possibility they were from really far away was the truth.

He nodded then continued, “I also participated in the pursuit, and saw the Martial Arts Alliance Leader’s duel with the Assassin Silver Moon.”

Kaiser and others’ faces suddenly darkened.

“Though my father did not allow me to get close to the fight to watch, but even from afar it was amazing. Jiyun had never thought two of the top fighters’ duel could result in hundreds of meters of barren lands.”

Liola thought about that fight, and kept breathing deeply.

“But the Assassin Silver Moon didn’t seem to want to fight, nor did he seem to want to kill. Even after the Alliance Leader used the move ‘Extinction of Heaven and Earth’, he was still not able to kill the Assassin. Instead, while the Alliance Leader was trying to recovering from expending all his energy on his attack, Silver Moon used the opportunity to get away. With his speed, nobody could possibly catch up to him.”

“Hey! What does this have to do with your enemy?” Kaiser asked impatiently.

Lin Jiyun seemed to have sunken into his memories, and said with red eyes,

“What follows was, that old thief Xin Jietian attacked the Alliance Leader when he his Ki and stamina level was low. His ambush was successful, and the Alliance Leader was killed in one hit. My father was in serious shock, and told me to leave immediately while he tried to hold Xin Jietian off. But my father was an advisor, and couldn’t possibly stand up against Xin Jietian.”

When he got to this point in his story, Lin Jiyun started to choke on his words.

“After I ran home, when I was just about to tell everyone about Xin Jietian, the news came that my dad and his accomplice had betrayed the Martial Arts Alliance and killed the leader. No matter how I explained, nobody would believe Xin Jietian was the real murderer!”

“What followed was the massacre of my entire family. Rumor said it was because Shalong Hall was unhappy with my dad working with their traitor Silver Moon… Of course, it was false accusation. The murder was none other than Xin Jietian.”

Lin Jiyun raised his head and let out a crazed laugh, “Sadly, I was out when it happened, drinking to numb my pain, and I even passed out on the way home. I escaped death twice, and I really don’t know if the heavens are taking pitying on me or punishing me, haha.”

“Eldest brother! This is the chance heaven gave you to seek revenge for your entire family.” Wong Shujun saw Lin Jiyun’s acting strangely, and began to worry. So he started to trying to comfort him.

Lin Jiyun stopped laughing, and looked at Wong Shujun thankfully, “Second brother, you are the only one who didn’t believe in Xin Jietian, and helped me escape. As a result, you had to run with me into these Bandit Mountains.”

“Stop talking about this, eldest brother, we are brothers.” Wong Shujun said in a slightly blaming tone.

At this time, Kaiser asked Void calmly, “Who is Xin Jietian.”

Void’s expression hardened. He forced an answer, “He was the right hand man of previous last Alliance Leader, and the current Alliance Leader.”

Although Kaiser had already knew this might happen since the only reason for him to kill the former Leader was to usurp his position. But hearing his assumption was right on the spot, this unfortunately news darkened Kaiser’s expression.

Daylight saw Kaiser’s face, but his eyes had turned red after hearing Lin Jiyun’s story. He yelled at Kaiser, “We must help brother Lin with his quest for revenge and seek justice. We need to expose Xin Jietian’s shameless conspiracy.”

“Wow, damn, he’s already attached to brother Lin.” Kaiser murmured.
“Kaiser, do you have any good plans?” Daylight asked anxiously.
“None at the moment.” Kaiser said honestly.

Seeing Daylight and Lin Jiyun’s downcast faces, Kaiser added, “Anyhow, we’re going to the Martial Arts Symposium, so we might as well bring this guy.”

Lin Jiyun frowned, “I’m afraid Jiyun could not appear in the Symposium. I am still a wanted criminal in the Martial Arts world.”

“Just wear a mask.” Kaiser said with ease. Worst case scenario, they could just use a Dragon to escape. He didn’t believe the Alliance Leader could fly; even if he could, could he outfly a Dragon?

Lin Jiyun saw Kaiser and others didn’t seem to care much, thinking perhaps their powers were amazing, and they really could help him right the injustice. Worst case scenario, he thought, was for him to lose his life, the life he should have already lost twice. Lin Jiyun solemnly nodded.

“By the way, can we go rob some people?” Kaiser asked with a very serious face.

Void and Daylight both hung their heads low, both looking guilty.

Before Lin Jiyun left, he organized the Bandits, and left Wong Shujun in the leader position to command the Bandits.

When Daylight and Void went with him out of curiosity, they noticed the Bandits really were so poor, their clothings were rather ragged. Both of them had gotten soft… and gave them all their money. Therefore, five people and two glutton Dragons did not even have a single cent in their names.

* * *

To make it to the Symposium, they rode Flames. As soon as Void heard they had to fly again, his face froze. Liola, on the other hand, held onto Baolilong so it wouldn’t get angry again. The reason for all this was they had no money! Therefore, when they arrived at Living Sky City, they could only stare at the door.

Standing at the gate to the city entrance, and Baolilong yelled it was hungry, but they couldn’t do anything. They weren’t even able to pay the fee to enter the city, which cost pennies.

The guards also looked at them in disdain, and the people in line to enter the city were also laughing at them.

Kaiser glared at those laughing, and yelled, “What are you laughing at? Never seen someone who got robbed?”

This made the people laugh even louder. But if they really knew the truth that they donated all their money willingly to the Bandits, they might laugh so hard to the point where their jaws might fall off.

Money really did kill heroes. Kaiser stood there with a long face, and tried to think of every possible way to make money, but then heard a yell from afar.

“Daylight?”

As soon as he heard his name, Daylight turned around to look at the source of voice and noticed Yulie and others.

Auyan Dri looked surprised, and Yulie looked happy. She hurriedly walked up, and began to chatter, “How did you guys get here faster than us? I thought you might not even make it to the Symposium.”

“Because we were afraid we might not make it, so we flew over.” Daylight answered honestly.

“Flew over? Oh.” Yulie remembered those two terrifying demons, “So why aren’t you going in? Are you waiting for… us?” When she said the last word, Yulie seemed to blush a little.

“Did you already annihilate those Bandits?” Auyan Dri laughed.

Daylight was slightly stunned. Kaiser, however, quickly joined the conversation,

“We’re merciful people, so why would we kill them ruthlessly? Especially since those mountain ranges are called Bandit Mountains. You ran in willingly, could you really blame them for robbing you?”

Having heard such a response, Auyan Dri looked awkward, and turned his face away to ignore Kaiser. He then started to talk to Daylight,

“May I dare to ask, the… beast, what was it?” Auyan Dri stuttered as he tried to figure out a name to call the two large creatures. He thought it to be inappropriate to call them monsters in front of them.

“Dragon?” Auyan Dri looked puzzled. To him, Dragons were a legendary creatures and often the symbol of Royalties. Daylight calling those two monsters Dragons made Auyan Dri unsure of how he should respond.

Daylight looked uneasy again. In fact, he knew Flames was also very hungry. The little food he had in the Bandit’s cottage hardly filled his own stomach, let alone a Dragon. Because Flames was a bit older, it didn’t throw a tantrum and wasn’t as impatient as Baolilong. Daylight felt very guilty to have his own Dragon go hungry.

“Since the child is hungry, then let’s hurry in and eat.” Yulie immediately suggested.

As soon as Yulie said so, Daylight and his companions all laughed bitterly. Yulie blinked, wondering what she had said wrong, and hesitantly asked, “What? You guys aren’t going in?”

“Uh…” Daylight touched his head with embarrassment, and said honestly, “We couldn’t pay the entrance fee.”

Yulie widened her eyes, and asked strangely, “Is the entrance fee to Living Sky City expensive? Or are these guards trying to rip you off?”

“You can’t talk such nonsense!” The eavesdropping guard immediately protested loudly, “If our entrance fee is the second cheapest, then no one would be the cheapest. We didn’t rip these people off either. Everyone here can testify.”

The crowds yelled, agreeing the guards didn’t rip them off at all.

Yulie felt a bit embarrassed. She immediately took out a bag with coins, and asked to the guard, “How much is the entrance fee? I’ll pay for all of us.”

The complacent guard raised his chin and said a number. Yulie heard the number and it was indeed very cheap. Her face blushed even more. She quickly paid and beckoned everyone to enter the city.

Auyan Dri smiled at Daylight, and gestured for him to go in, “Allow me to be your host this time to thank you for rescuing me and my sister in the Bandit Mountains.”

Being poor and having Kaiser’s eyes burning behind him, Daylight knew if he dared to say it was a Knight’s duty or the like and reject Auyan Dri’s help, Kaiser would definitely barbecue him alive and feed him to the hungry crowd.

“Then sorry for troubling you.” Daylight had no choice but to smile as he accepted.

Auyan Dri courteously answered, “No trouble at all.”

Everyone then entered Living Sky City, which was dubbed the largest city other than the Imperial City, and it was also the city where the Martial Arts Symposium was held.

The city roads were very wide, it was spacious enough for five horse-drawn carriages to travel in parallel. There were many people on the streets, many of which carried weapons and yelled loudly. There were also many peddlers on the side of the road trying to advertise their goods.

Restaurants could be found with every few steps they took, and there were no shortage of places to stay either. The whole street seemed very lively.

Auyan Dri didn’t seem to like the noisy environment, and walked hurriedly. Yulie, on the other hand, seemed very interested in the things the peddlers sold, and she often stopped to look at them.

After waiting a few times, Auyan Dri finally said, “Sister, it is already past noon, and Daylight still hasn’t eaten yet.”

Yulie reluctantly put down a carved wooden box she held in her hands and followed behind everyone , not stopping to look at things again.

Daylight thought it was a bit strange. Auyan Dri said they were going to eat, but he didn’t seem like he was going to stop any time soon even after passing so many different restaurants.

However, since it was Auyan Dri who invited them to a meal, Daylight didn’t say anything and simply followed. After walking for quite a while, the streets they were in seemed a bit more quiet, and the pedestrians on the street seemed more scarce, and they seemed more refined with more elegant clothes. The shops around them also seemed more elegant.

Auyan Dri stopped at one of the inns. The inn seemed to be especially large. It was surrounded by stone walls, and the gate was large enough for a carriage to go in unhindered.

The gate was made entirely of carved wood, and its deep red color looked like it wasn’t painted, but instead the wood’s original color. It also faintly gave out a pleasant scent.

Auyan Dri gestured for everyone to go in. As soon as they did, the maids on the side immediately bowed, and greeted them. Judging from their gestures and looks, these maids weren’t just ordinary inn maids.

Auyan Dri said a few things to them. The maids bowed and led everyone past the reception area. They walked out of the hall, and into a small garden. It had a small trail people could walk around, and both sides were lined with pink flowers.

There were also a small, artificial lake far away, and some white flowers were blooming within the lake. The strange large garden also had a few Chinese gazebo scattered about. The maids led Auyan Dri into one of the gazebos, and opened the door to let the guests in.

Auyan Dri beckoned everyone to sit down, and smiled as he said to Daylight, “We are still waiting on a guest. She’s the Yulie’s senior sister apprentice. I hope you don’t mind.”

Auyan Dri felt a bit uneasy hearing Daylight calling Yulie’s name directly, and forced a smile, “No. She is from Wave Faction. The Sun Faction has always been close to Wave Faction, and we often call each other sibling apprentices.”

“I understand…” Daylight nodded with a smile.

The maid from before came in, and she was followed by a long line of maids, with each of them carrying two plates of food. When all the maids placed dishes on the table, which was large enough for twenty people, it had almost completely filled the table. There were twelve large containers of food, two of which were soups.

“I asked them to bring the twelve classic dishes they have here. In a moment they will come with the other twelve and some desserts.” Auyan Dri smiled.

Seeing so much food, Daylight was shocked. In the year he had been in the Overlook, there were probably two, three dishes at most per meal. In the end, they had to fill their stomachs with rice. Even when Lee San Niang cooked their farewell meal for them, it was only six dishes.

There were only two people on Auyan Dri’s side: him and Yulie. There were more people on Daylight’s side: five people and two Dragons (Of course, on the surface it looked like six people and one Dragon).

How could they possibly finish twenty four dishes plus desserts? Unless Auyan Dri had somehow already knew how much Baolilong and Flames could eat? Daylight was a bit suspicious.

“Oh right, Daylight. For your… Dragon, I asked for ten kilograms of their best beef. I don’t know if it’s enough?” Auyan Dri asked. Since it was just a small Dragon, it should be enough. However, he had no idea how much a large Dragon would eat.

“Could we get some more?” Liola suddenly opened his mouth, and added, “The more the better.”

God knows Liola had to use Ki to grab a hold of Baolilong, whose eyes had almost turned blood red from being so hungry.

Auyan Dri suddenly remembered, out of the two demons, one of them seemed to be controlled by the silver-eyed man before him. He became cautious of Liola, but on the surface he still appeared to be courteous.

He said leisurely, “Then, let’s get another fifty kilograms of barbecue beef.”

Auyan Dri was eager to see how Liola was going to feed the monster.

One of the two maids standing at the door immediately bowed at Auyan Dri, and headed to the kitchen to get their orders ready.

“Everyone, please help yourselves.” Auyan Dri gestured with his hand.

Liola almost couldn’t hold Baolilong back. To not let Baolilong commit an atrocity on the table, Liola decided to grab two dishes with mainly meat in them and placed them on the ground. Baolilong immediately charged at the food, and its chubby hands were grabbing food and stuffing its face.

Auyan Dri and Yulie were both stunned when Liola took the plates. But the look of Baolilong eating completely froze them.

At this time, someone else at the table also dug in. Since he couldn’t just take away the plates, Kaiser used chopsticks and a spoon at the same time. He grabbed both drum sticks of the Rotisserie Chicken, and a third of the Fish.

Almost every dish was abused in a similar manner by Kaiser. The dishes were originally so beautiful that no one wanted to eat them. However, in an instant they looked so appalling, no one dared to touch it.

Nevertheless, Daylight, Liola, and Void didn’t seem to mind. Lin Jiyun, with his face covered, probably hadn’t had a full meal for God knows how long, so he would never care whether the food looked good or not. They all began to eat, because if they didn’t hurry they might have nothing to eat but plates.

After Liola took a few bites, Baolilong began to grab the seams of his pants, with two empty plates next to it. Going against Kaiser’s murderous gaze, Liola calmly picked up another two plates and placed them on the ground for Baolilong.

There were only eight dishes left. Judging from Baolilong’s speed, it was going to be six soon. The crowd’s eating speed increased once again. Seeing the food on the table was vanishing at the speed of light, Auyan Dri and Yulie were in shock, and the maids at the door were also scared and ran off to tell the kitchen to prepare the next twelve dishes.

With sweat running down their foreheads, the maids finally managed to deliver the sixty kilograms of beef for the Dragons as soon as the twelve dishes on the table vanished. They then helped set up the second set of dishes on the table.

Without the hungry Dragons robbing them of food, they finally slow down their eating speed. Auyan Dri and Yulie began to taste a bite of every dish.

For the upper class Auyan Dri and Long Yulie, they ordered so much food not because they could eat them all. They were only going to take a bite out of every dish, and had no plans to actually finish them. Coincidentally, this was perfect for Daylight and others. Had it not there been so much food, they would’ve had a hard time feeding Baolilong and Flames.

* * *

After having eaten just about enough, Auyan Dri asked as he looked at the mask-covered Lin Jiyun, “I have been very curious. This man seems to be a new addition? I don’t remember seeing him before.”

Daylight hurriedly said, “Yes, he just joined us. We just agreed to help him with something, that’s all.”

Auyan Dri thought it was strange, but Daylight had already concluded his sentence with “that’s all”, which meant it was probable Daylight had no intention of clarifying. Naturally, Auyan Dri wouldn’t bluntly ask again. He glanced at the masked man just one more time before moving on.

“Is this little child eating a bit too much?” Long Yulie had already been full for a while, and she settled her attention on Baolilong. Seeing the child eating more than its own body weight, Yulie was worried it might die from eating too much.

Liola glanced at Baolilong, and said quietly, “Baolilong, save some for Flames.”

Baolilong, who was sitting on the ground, had all sixty kilograms of meat next to it, and was happily chewing.

Hearing papa say so, Baolilong looked at the pitiful Flames next to it, then unwillingly split its stack of meat into half and gave half to Flames. Flames almost burst into tears, it rushed up to the meat and started to stuff itself.

Auyan Dri thought it was strange how such a small child could eat so much. The child’s hair color and eye color were also strange. White hair and pink eyes… Auyan Dri suddenly had an epiphany.

‘White and pink? That monster last time seemed to also have pink eyes…’ Auyan Dri suddenly began to panic.

“Senior brother apprentice, what’s wrong?” Long Yulie asked in a caring manner. She had rarely seen him panicking like this.

When Auyan Dri didn’t know how to respond, the maid at the door respectfully said, “Mr Auyan, the guest you’ve been waiting for has arrived.”

“Auyan Dri! Did you treat my junior sister apprentice well? If you’ve been bullying her, you are dead!”

As soon as her voice could be heard, she arrived into the building like a gale. Her attire was similar to Yulie’s, with a long whip on her hips. Both of them were wearing bright red clothes, but they didn’t seem vulgar. Her skin was also snowy white. Along with her proud appearance, her image was burned into everyone’s eyes, like a bright flame.

“Hmm? How come there are so many people?”

The woman asked, and at the same time browsed through the unfamiliar crowd. When she saw Liola, the woman froze.

At the same time, Liola had already been completely stunned when he saw this woman come in. Judging from their expressions, they had already met before, but neither had ever imagined they would run into each other again.

This woman was someone Liola was very familiar with. She was the person the Martial Arts World called Long Yandie, the person closest to Anise; her sworn younger sister.

Chapter 6 : Anise’s Letter

Both of them were like statues, the only difference being one was sitting and the other was standing. They stared at each other, and they could both see the other’s mixed emotions in their eyes.

Both she and he were people whom Anise loved the most, but now they looked at each other like enemies would. After Anise’s death, Liola had ran into Long Yandi more than once, and he was also pursued by her more than once. Their enmity had been at its peak back then.

Even though, in the days following Anise’s death, Liola was in despair and had actually been rescued by Long Yandi. At the time, she said she was going to be the person to kill him and no one else.

More than a year later, both of them meeting like this, neither knew how to react.

No one else dared to make a sound. Though Auyan Dri was about to ask if they had met, but as soon as he saw Long Yandi’s complex expression, he suddenly stopped.

In Auyan Dri’s mind, the only person who could elicit such hatred and longing in a woman could be none other than a lover or an ex-lover, and Auyan Dri wasn’t someone who would ask such a private matter bluntly.

A long time had passed before Long Yandi finally sighed deeply. She then said, “Come with me, I have something to ask you.” Without waiting for his response, she turned and walked out of the building.

Liola thought briefly, and stood up to follow Long Yandi, leaving behind a bunch of people staring at each other, trying to guess the relationship between the two.

“Adulterers.” Kaiser said straightforwardly.
“Brother and sister?” Daylight guessed something no one else would agree with.
“Love rivals?” Someone said this, but they weren’t sure who.

Everyone was briefly silent, but then Kaiser interrupted the silence, “That can’t be? Were they love rivals for a man or woman?”

The silence continued. Kaiser uneasily continued his interruption, “I hope it’s not a man? Don’t scare me, I slept with Liola for a year.”

Hearing this, Auyan Dri and Yulie both looked strangely at Kaiser…

* * *

As soon as Liola walked out the door, he saw Yandi standing by herself near a small lake not far away. Liola walked over, and quietly stood next to her.

She said softly, “I knew you’re still alive.”

Liola didn’t answer. They both looked at the surface of the lake for a long while. Yandi finally said with hesitation and anticipation, “Is my sister really dead?”

Hearing this, Liola was slightly shocked, and questioned her back, “Didn’t I hand her body to you?”

“I know. And I followed what she told me before, and put her corp—… body at her old house.” Yandi bit her lip tightly, trying not to remember how she felt when she buried her sister.

“Then why did you ask?” Liola felt it strange. Perhaps someone else might not be sure, but Yandi and he were the two people who saw Anise’s corpse with their own eyes. There’s no reason for her to doubt her death.

Yandie said with a stiff expression, “I heard rumors sister has been going around the world.”

Hearing this, Liola frowned slightly, but he didn’t say anything. He knew Yandi wasn’t the type of person who would easily believe rumors. Something must have happened to force her to ask him such a question.

“Rumors kept coming. Many of them clearly described the unique style of sister’s healing. I had no choice but to go back to the place I where buried sister to make sure.” Yandi held her fist tightly, trying to hold back her eagerness and stared at Liola, “It was gone! Sister’s corpse was gone!”

‘Anise’s body was gone?’ Liola’s mind went blank, and trying to hold back his eagerness like Yandi, while trying to find an explanation.

“When you buried Anise… did you go with anyone?”

“No.” Yandi impatiently shook her head and said, “You think I didn’t think about the possibility? I’ve already checked out all the possibilities, but no one could have possibly known where sister lived. Even I took a long time. I had to look for it based on sister’s description. That place is far too well hidden. It was a cave behind a waterfall, and the cave is even high off the ground. I observed the surrounding of the place when I went, and I can promise no one had been there after sister had left.”

Liola knew, despite Yandi’s looks, she was actually a very detailed woman. Plus this involved Anise, Yandi must have done all her research and did not find any clue, to end up asking him the question.

Yandi took a deep breath, and took out something from her pocket, “When I went back, I found this.”

Liola lowered his head to look. It was an envelope, and it had “To Dear Liola” written on it. Liola’s heart skipped a beat, but he hadn’t seen Anise’s handwriting before, so he couldn’t ascertain whether it was written by her.

“Sister’s handwriting, I promise.” Yandi said impatiently, “I haven’t opened it, now you’re here, open it immediately.”

She handed the letter to Liola, and he looked gratefully at Yandi.

‘How much restraint did she have to exercise to not open it?’ Liola took it and opened it, and took out a short note from within.

Seeing the surprising note, Liola felt as if someone was suffocating him. His mind flashed with the things Blood Wolf said to him, and felt his heart sinking.

Yandi finally couldn’t hold back and grabbed the note, but saw such a strange sentence. Yandi thought it was strange, but judging from Liola’s expression, he understood what it meant.

Yandi prodded him, and asked in dissatisfaction, “What does this mean?”

Liola woke up from his daze, and shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“Are you being ridiculous? Assassin.” Yandi suddenly got angry. From his appearance, she knew it was impossible for him to not understand this.

However, Liola kept shaking his head.

Yandi suspiciously observed Liola’s expression. Liola continued shaking his head while looking away from Yandi.

She finally understood, and said coldly, “I know now, you’re running away again. Your ability to lie to yourself has always been astounding. You must have noticed something, but you aren’t brave enough to think about it.”

Liola’s mouth twitched; he was trying to suppress the question now spiraling in his heart.

“You! You’re making me really angry!” Yandi was now furious. She turned around and ran back to the building, leaving Liola standing alone beside the lake.

‘Anise is…’ Liola grab ahold of the Dragon Cross Necklace on his chest, forcing himself to forget, but one question could not be suppressed… if everything was pre-arranged, was his meeting with Anise also planned?

Liola held onto the necklace tighter, and he didn’t realize blood was oozing out of his fingers. A white light slowly glimmered from the Dragon Cross Necklace. In the past, the white light had always brought Liola a feeling of warmth, but this time, a cold feeling brushed across the Assassin’s heart.

He didn’t know how long he stood there. Liola took a deep breath, and let go of the necklace. He turned around to return to his friends. At least, knowing them wasn’t a part of the arrangement.

* * *

Next day, they ate a large meal at breakfast again. With Yulie’s warm invitations, Kaiser and others accepted in embarrassment, without saying anything to refuse it. If they really were to reject the offer, what were they going to eat? It was either going to be Kaiser cooking the Dragon, or vice versa, the latter being the more probable outcome.

“Then Auyan Dri, we’ll trouble you some more.”

Kaiser courteously bowed, but his face was still had a sly smile, which made Auyan Dri feel uncomfortable, but he still had to answer courteously, “No problem, we’re all companions going to the Martial Arts Symposium.”

Even for Auyan Dri, Kaiser’s actions were making his head blow off some steam, and he even secretly counted how much money he had left.

Although, to make Yulie happy, Auyan Dri brought quite a lot of money to ensure her trip would be happy, it turned out the money Yulie spent was far less than Auyan Dri anticipated. At most, she bought a few cheap toys from the streets stall, and she didn’t seem to have much interest in expensive jewelry.

However, going at the current rate, his wallet might be emptied out by these people’s stomachs. Auyan Dri’s smile, therefore, looked a bit forced.

“Good, good. Let’s go then, and let us go witness the morality of this Martial Arts Alliance Leader.” Kaiser said happily, and at the same time, reminded Lin Jiyun to be careful.

“Kaiser, when we are at the Symposium, please… mind your words. If you offend a powerful man in the Martial Arts world, even Auyan Dri would not be able to help you.” Auyan Dri laughed bitterly.

The man had already questioned the morality of the Alliance Leader, could Auyan Dri really expect he would be respectful to anyone else?

As they walked, Kaiser frequently grabbed hot buns, candied fruits, and Dragon’s beard candy. His hands were soon full with food, but his eyes were still staring at dumplings.

[T/N: Dragon’s beard candy is a type of chinese cotton candy]

Baolilong, on the other hand, grabbed food and stuffed it in its mouth, then continued to grab the next food. The life span of food in its chubby hands was never more than five seconds.

This made Auyan Dri very busy with paying for the food, to the point where his mood turned rotten. He also saw Yulie busily chatting and laughing with Daylight. Auyan Dri felt bitter, and half of his face darkened.

Liola and Long Yandi walked silently shoulder-to-shoulder in the back. The atmosphere between them was extremely cold, to the point where Lin Jiyun had to walk faster in front of them, so he doesn’t freeze to death before he had his revenge.

As they walked, the number of common folk had steadily decreased. Almost everyone carried a weapon, and they looked like Martial Artists. Many of them even wore matching uniform with their own special icons.

Void continuously explained to Kaiser, “That’s the Mandarin Duck Faction, they excel at swords, especially a sword formation with two people. They are the Kenpo Faction, they excel at palm strikes…”

Daylight relished in Void’s detail explanation, and kept observing people around him. At first, the people he looked at all looked back at him unhappily, but as soon as Daylight saw them looking back, he would smile and nod earnestly.

Seeing the sincerity of his smile and the admiration of his gaze, most of them would nod back respectfully; some of the older folks would even secretly praise the young hero.

They walked and walked until they were near the edge of the city. The streets became more and more crowded, to the point where people were standing shoulder to shoulder. Suddenly, someone yelled out loudly.

“I’m burning!” Everyone looked, and saw a buff man trying to extinguish the fire on his body. Since the fire was on his back, the man ran around anxiously but still could not put his hand on the disaster on the back.

Everyone saw the man running around in an embarrassing manner and started laughing. With the help of his companions, the man finally put out the fire, and then turned around and yelled with a blush, “What are you laughing at?! This is the dark magic from a demon. That damn demon dared to harm people.”

The man pointed with his finger at the small Flames on the ground. Everyone looked at what he pointed. In fact, everyone had already noticed the strange creature, but no one wanted to point at it out of fear of showing their own ignorance, so nobody spoke first even though they were all waiting for someone to ask.

After being pointed at, Flames angrily growled. Daylight frowned, and scolded Flames, “Perhaps he didn’t mean to step on your tail. You can’t just throw your fireballs at will and hurt people.”

Flames felt wronged and growled a few more times.

Seeing Daylight talking to Flames, everyone looked strangely at Daylight and his demon. The man saw the demon’s master was just a young man, and suddenly felt brave.

Daylight answered straightforwardly, but the man seemed to want to cause trouble. He said, “You have to at least pay me for a shirt.”

Hearing about money, Daylight froze. He didn’t even have a cent, so what was he going to use to pay the man?

Daylight looked worried. Yulie saw and knew he had no money. She quickly looked towards her senior brother apprentice. Auyan Dri originally wanted to see Daylight being embarrassed, but Yulie’s eyes forced him to come forward.

As the young master of the Sun Faction, when had Auyan Dri ever paid money to a hooligan like him? And now he had to do it for his love rival.

Auyan Dri impatiently took out some money and threw it at the man, “This is the money for your clothes.”

Hearing someone call him a runt, Auyan Dri’s face sank. He had already been in a rotten mood, and no longer cared to resolve the situation peacefully.

He yelled back, “You were the one who stepped on Daylight’s… pet, let’s forget you didn’t apologize, but now you want payment because of it?”

The man got angrier, and he unsheathed his sword. Everyone around him had also done so.

Auyan Dri’s side, however, held still while he looked at the man in disdain. Daylight hurriedly tried to solve the argument and said something about how it’s all his fault, and they shouldn’t get into a fight because of it.

While the confrontation between the two sides ensued, Kaiser pinched Baolilong’s cheeks, and said with a sly smile, “Little pet, come shake hands… AAHHHH!” He then let out a tragic cry as Baolilong bit his hand.

Both sides were furious, and neither listened to Daylight. With another disdained look from Auyan Dri, the man drew his sword and charged with a dozen or so people around him.

Auyan Dri’s also decided to vent the anger he had accumulated in the past few days. He drew the sword from his waist. He charged towards the dozen of people and began fighting.

Originally, Auyan Dri looked at the buff man, and thought little of his power. Little did he knew, although it did not match Auyan Dri’s, the man’s power was not far off, plus he had a dozen helpers.

Auyan Dri wanted to use them to vent off anger, but now he was in a situation where the only thing he could ensure was his own safety, and had no power to attack back.

Yulie joining the fight may have lessened his pressure slightly, but her power was far off from Auyan Dri. With three, four people surrounding her, she panicked.

“Please stop. Stop fighting.” Daylight had become anxious, but he didn’t know whether he should join the fight. Although Auyan Dri is on his side, Daylight had to admit this fight was started by Auyan Dri. Seeing the fight being evenly matched, Daylight had no idea what to do.

However, Yulie suddenly staggered, and a few swords were swung directly at her. Daylight saw it and immediately charged to her side. He didn’t even have enough time to take out his pike, so he unleashed his aura, forcing the swords back. The silver-lined blue aura caused everyone around him to stop fighting, and they all stared at the strange light.

Daylight slowly withdrew his aura, but he didn’t know how to resolve the situation. Almost everyone was staring at him, and some of which would look at him suspiciously while also glancing at Flames.

“What kind of witchcraft is this?” Someone from the crowd asked suspiciously, a question everyone was wondering about.

“Aura.” Daylight answered honestly.

Everyone began to murmur among themselves, “Aura? Never heard of it… Must be some sort of sorcery…”

“Hahaha, releasing your Ki outside of your body for defense. This method is quite special, but runt, your usage of it isn’t matured yet. You lack more practice.”

A loud old man’s voice echoed in everyone’s ears. Despite the noisy environment, it was crisp and clear to everyone, but it wasn’t a loud yell either. His laugh also sounded vigorous, like the sound of a large bell chiming. By simply judging by his voice, one could deduce he had unimaginable power. Even Liola, as the top Assassin, frowned slightly when he heard the voice.

While everyone was looking around for the source of this voice, the old man slowly walked out from a corner. Other than his face being ruddy, he looked no different than any other ordinary old man.

Upon closer examination, however, one would realize his eyes looked far more spirited than ordinary person. There was also a silver cane at the man’s waist, and it was made out of stone. The shape of it didn’t look very elegant, so it wasn’t a sculpted rock, but rather one produced from a slash of a sword.

Chapter 7 : Martial Arts Alliance Leader, Xin Jietian

“Little runt, you sure did release quite a bit of Ki, but your usage isn’t accurate enough. Your master must not be very conscientious.” Wanyuan old man laughed as he stared at Daylight.

Unlike other people who respectfully or humbly lowered their heads, Daylight looked at the old man curiously, and explained, “I only have mentors, not a master.”

Wanyuan frowned, not sure what mentor meant. But as for not having a master, he obviously understood. A hint of excitement flashed across his eyes, and asked anxiously, “You don’t have a master?”

Daylight nodded.

“Hehe, are you interested in having me as your master?” Wanyuan asked as if he was joking.

“Are you very strong?” Daylight’s eyes shone as well, and he excitedly asked back, not knowing this question shocked everyone around them.

Who was Wanyuan? He was practically a legend in the Martial Arts world! Any other person would have kowtowed to him the moment he said he would take them as an apprentice, how could Daylight dare to ask if he was strong?

Wanyuan also looked a bit surprised at Daylight’s response. But judging from Daylight’s Kung Fu-loving looks, Wanyuan was not angry, and instead burst out laughing.

He gestured with his index finger and taunted Daylight to come at him. He then stood still quietly, waiting for Daylight’s attack. Daylight also took out the pike on his back. With his blue aura released, the pike flew towards the old man like a meteorite.

Wanyuan acted as if he wanted to leave an impression for his future apprentice. Despite facing Daylight’s mountain-splitting, sea-parting attack, the old man chose not to evade or launch a counterattack, and stood still.

His eyes suddenly shone, and his hand grabbed the pike like the claw of an eagle. No matter how much Daylight struggled with his hands or his aura, the pike didn’t move an inch.

Daylight looked at the old man’s relaxed expression, and he let go of his spike, then gave the old man a Knight’s salute while saying excitedly, “Master, please allow me to be your apprentice.”

“Rude! You want master to have you as an apprentice but you’re not even kneeling.”

The man who was fighting with Auyan Dri walked up to the old man, and scolded Daylight loudly. Everyone was stunned, but Wanyuan knocked the man’s head, and scolded back,

“Shut up! You’re fighting with others in public, and a dozen of you couldn’t even win against two, and now you dare to yell? Go back to your piggy friends.”

“Yes, master.” The buff man obediently backed away behind Wanyuan like a child. The other dozen people saw the buff man had left, and immediately followed without so much as uttering a word.

“Master, are these all your apprentices?” Daylight didn’t care whether the old man accepted him as an apprentice, he simply started calling him master.

After all, in his world, no mentors would forbid the students for calling them a mentor, and Daylight didn’t really think much about the customs here.

Fortunately, Wanyuan had already observed Daylight before, and he was fond of Daylight’s honor, lack of any artificiality, and his straightforwardness without any formalities.

The old man waved his hand, “I don’t have many apprentices who’d make me angry. Only the stupidest one there is my apprentice.”

“Such rotten luck I have! I’ve only had two apprentices my whole life, and they’re both stupid! One was so stupid enough to die, while the other is so stupid no one wants to kill him.” Wanyuan murmured angrily, which made the buff man behind him blush.

Wanyuan seemed to be deep in thought. His white eyebrows knitted as he examined Daylight, and then finally said, “No, if you’re so stupid you’d die, or if you’re so stupid no one wants to kill you, then wouldn’t it mean I wouldn’t have anyone to continue my legacy?”

Daylight scratched his face, unsure of what the old man was talking about.

“Follow me, good apprentice! This time, I, Wanyuan, will definitely have a good apprentice people will want to kill but won’t be able to.”

Wanyuan grabbed Daylight’s hand, and hurriedly started to talk. Daylight was practically dragged off, without even a chance to explain anything about him or his friends.

“Halt!”

A lazy voice could be heard, and this actually made Wanyuan stop. How long had it been since someone dared to ask him to stop?

Wanyuan looked back with more curiosity than anger. Only person he saw was a green-haired man, looking like he was about sixteen, seventeen at the most. Wanyuan began to find it amusing. He sighed and murmured something about how nowadays even a little child dared to ask him to halt.

“Old man, you can take away my eldest brother apprentice,” Kaiser said angrily, “But you have to at least pay a bit of ransom fee, right?”

Everyone fell to the floor, and even Wanyuan staggered two steps back. ‘Ransom fee? Is this man treating his own eldest brother apprentice like a prostitute…?’

“Did you know, all of us apprentices are relying on him for food. As soon as he leaves, how can Ms. Long not send us out on the streets?” Kaiser said as shocked everyone to death with his words.

He reached out his right palm and said, “So, you give me money, and I give you a person!”

“…”

Wanyuan scratched his head, and reached into his pockets. He took out a gold bullion and threw it to Kaiser. He asked, “Is this enough?”

Kaiser calmly caught the bullion. He bit it with his teeth, then put it in his pockets. His expression suddenly turned emotional.

“Of course not. Who do you think my eldest brother apprentice is? He is very talented. He’s a genius you can only find once in a million years. Look at him, his honorable personality, handsome looks, and his power of defeating a thousand people. It’s rare for any one of these traits to appear on a person, not to mention my eldest brother apprentice is a prodigy with all three of them. You want to take him away for one bullion? What do you think I’m doing, liquidating off my assets?”

Wanyuan looked dumbfounded, and he took out a heavy money bag and threw it. Kaiser flew out and grabbed the bag in the air. As soon as he opened it, a golden light shone on Kaiser’s face, which brought out his greed even further.

Kaiser immediately put the bag inside his coat, and said with a salesman smile, “Thank you for coming, please come again. Oh and, elder brother apprentice, take care.”

“W-wait.” It was Daylight’s turn to be dumbfounded. Seeing Kaiser really was about to sell him, Daylight had to stand up and say something.

“Wait my ass! You have a master and I have money, so everyone is happy. You go learn Kung Fu. Oh and take Flames with you, one chowhound is already hard enough to feed, and I don’t want to feed two. If you need to talk to us, ask Flames to talk to Baolilong.”

Kaiser said hurriedly, and then turned to add a disclaimer to Wanyuan, “Whether he leaves with you or not, it’s your business, he’s your apprentice now. No matter what, I will never refund the money you just gave me!”

‘T-this little runt…’ Wanyuan couldn’t even get mad. It was already impossible to describe Kaiser as naive, and therefore was not afraid of tigers. He was practically shameless… no, shameless could only describe one thousandth of Kaiser.

Daylight was still a bit worried, he felt he shouldn’t leave his companions’ side. It was then when Flames said via telepathy,

“Master, Baolilong Highness’ master has already asked Kaiser and Void. He said the old man is very powerful and a kind man. His willingness to accept you as his apprentice is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you shouldn’t pass it up. After they handle the monster origin and the business with Lin Jiyun, they will come find you. Baolilong Highness can definitely find Flames, so don’t worry master.”

After receiving this communique, Daylight knew his companions had already found out about his master. He blinked gratefully at his companions, and no longer objected to leaving.

Wanyuan saw Daylight’s obvious blink and quietness, and he understood his apprentice must have reached some sort of agreement with his companions. He was, however, curious as to how they did it, considering they didn’t say a word to one another.

Could they have really spoken via their eyes? Wanyuan was getting more and more curious about his new apprentice, but it didn’t matter. Judging from Daylight’s personality, finding various truths from him would be far too easy…

“Good apprentice. Now follow the master.” Just by looking, Wanyuan knew Daylight would follow obediently. He thought, the best thing about his apprentice was his honesty, and the worst thing was he was far too honest.

Daylight nodded, then turned around to try to remind Kaiser before he left. He frowned and looked at Kaiser briefly, and finally uttered, “Kaiser, don’t sell your second brother apprentice.”

Daylight nodded, then turned to look at Liola. He frowned again and said, “Be careful not to get sold by Kaiser.”

Liola was speechless, but he still nodded back.

Daylight didn’t say anything else. After all, if he had something to say, Flames could deliver his words to Baolilong.

Being a martial arts fanatic, Daylight didn’t seem to want to linger, but instead he was excited of the new Kung Fu he could learn.

Wanyuan saw his new apprentice wanted to get started right away, and therefore didn’t stay any longer. They then immediately took off.

* * *

Everything was concluded so quickly, but the result of the whole matter seemed to have stunned everyone, especially Auyan Dri and Long Yulie.

In the middle of the fight, an old man bought an apprentice and left, completely ignoring them. Nevertheless, Auyan Dri was quite happy, because the love rival he was always worried about had left, and God knows when he’ll be back. This also made Yulie freeze, to the point where she didn’t even say goodbye to Daylight.

“Oh, oh, when does the Martial Arts Symposium start?” Kaiser murmured as if he was bored.

At this time, everyone woke up from their daze, remembering they weren’t here to watch someone buying an apprentice, and the preparation for the Symposium must continue.

Suddenly the scene was lively again. Kaiser elbowed the Assassin next to him, and said like a sly salesman, “Hey, since Daylight is gone, isn’t it your turn to go?”

Even when he had the entire Martial Arts world on his tail, only very few people actually caught up to him, and there were fewer who had actually seen him. The only people he was sure who would recognize him would be the previous Alliance Leader, or perhaps… Liola frowned, maybe he has forgotten someone?

Kaiser looked at Liola’s face as he sank into his thoughts, and felt uneasy. Kaiser thought this man could never remember anything outside of Kung Fu, especially if he judged the person to be someone unimportant, which he would probably forget in a second. Or perhaps someone had seen Liola, but because they were “unimportant”, this guy didn’t remember at all.

“Maybe it’s better you don’t go” Kaiser had to give in. If someone recognized him, then it would bring many big troubles.

Since they had Daylight’s ransom fees, eating should no longer be a problem. What was important now was for them to find a perfect night for Liola to beat the bastard Xin Jietian unconscious, then let Lin Jiyun kill him. They can then go around the world tasting the best food, while looking to see if they could find the origin of the monsters. Of course, if they don’t run into it, it wouldn’t be their problem.

“Is second brother apprentice not going to participate in the match?” Void quietly listened in on the conversation for a while, and although he didn’t understand much of it, he did understand the conclusion.

“Correct. So we will just sit back and watch the match. When the moon is dark and the wind is high, we will then resolve the issue with little Yun.” Kaiser said lazily. He had always hated doing things that didn’t net him any money.

Even though Kaiser acted like a lazy worker, Lin Jiyun still looked at him with grateful eyes. After all, just taking him here to the Symposium was something very dangerous. Even if his quest for revenge fails, Lin Jiyun wouldn’t complain about Kaiser and others, because after all, his enemy was the Alliance Leader.

Suddenly, the sound of drums could be heard. All the martial artists around became quiet, and they looked towards the balcony of a small building not far away. A large set of drums was on the balcony, and a muscular man with a teal shirt was beating it forcefully.

The door to the balcony opened, and a thin and tall man walked out of it. He looked majestic and his eyes sparkled. He did not look as restrained as Wanyuan, and one could easily infer the man to be quite powerful.

At the same time, Kaiser didn’t know if it was just an illusion, but he felt a sense of faint magic around the old man. However, when he closely examined it, the magic power suddenly disappeared.

“Xin…”

As soon as Lin Jiyun saw the man and remembered every crime he had committed, he began to angrily cry out his name. But as soon as he had gotten the first syllable off, Kaiser immediately covered his mouth. Everyone else had their attention on the Alliance Leader, and thus no one noticed Lin Jiyun.

“Kaiser.” Liola, on the other hand, called Kaiser quietly.

While covering Lin Jiyun’s mouth, Kaiser threw a look back, “What?”

“I’ve seen this man, I remember.” Liola suddenly stopped, remembering Void and Lin Jiyun were both there. He then used the other world’s language, “When I was fighting with the previous Alliance Leader, he was nearby.”

Long Yandi glanced at Liola from the corner of her eyes, and then grunted without saying anything else. The only reason why she followed Liola was to find her sister. If Liola ends up getting caught, it wouldn’t do her any good.

Liola obeyed. Luckily, the Alliance Leader was on a second floor balcony and there were quite a large number of people nearby. Judging from his ordinary expression, he didn’t notice the top Assassin was “listening” to his announcement.

Xin Jietian saw everyone was quiet, and began to give his speech.

“Lately, I believe everyone here has witnessed the appearance of demons among us. They roam around our land, kill our people, and arson our homes. As a part of the Martial Arts World, we should consider it our duty, for the goodness and lives of all creatures…” (Hereby omitting the rest of his hour-long speech).

Kaiser had already yawned time after time, and his eyelids weighed like stones. He often fell asleep while standing, and his whole body would fall to its side.

Liola would often “fish” Kaiser from forming a 45 degree angle with the ground, and then Kaiser would open his eyes for about 0.2 cm. Three minutes later, he would fall again only to be fished up again.

A sudden intense wave of claps completely woke up Kaiser, and he noticed Xin Jietian’s hypnotic voice had finally stopped. Everyone around him looked excited; he wasn’t sure if Xin Jietian’s speech had raised their morale, or they were just thankful he had finally finished.

Xin Jietian looked around with satisfaction. He lifted both of his arms to quiet down the crowd, then said loudly, “I have prepared a simple present for the winner of this competition, this is a treasured sword I have found recently.”

A man in teal before took out a long scabbard, and a sword lay inside of it. The hilt of the sword looked old and not at all elegant.

Xin Jietian grabbed the hilt and pulled it out. Following a crisp sound, he unsheathed the sword. The blade of the sword was snow white, and when Xin Jietian raised the sword high up in the air, the cold blade reflected in everyone’s eyes. Everyone thought Xin Jietian was taking out a good sword as reward, but they did not expect him to give away such a rare, peerless sword.

“Strange. Xin Jietian always had a hobby of collecting swords, so why is he willing to give this out as a reward?” After having his mouth covered by Kaiser for a long time, Lin Jiyun calmed down, and thought Xin Jietian’s actions were strange.

Hearing what Lin Jiyun said and seeing the surprised expression on everyone’s face, Kaiser knew Lin Jiyun’s analysis was correct. Kaiser decided to be more careful about the man.

Considering there was no such thing as free lunch, there was definitely something wrong with the situation. Either there’s something wrong with the sword, or the guy was certain no one would be able to claim the sword. Neither of this was good for the people who would participate in the competition during the Symposium.

“Be careful, and don’t get separated. Also, try not to eat the food here.” Kaiser said with a low voice, while looking at Auyan Dri and Yulie from afar, making sure they didn’t hear.

After all, they haven’t heard the truth about Xin Jietian from Lin Jiyun, and even if they did, they probably would think he’s lying. If they end up ratting them out, Kaiser and others could escape with a Dragon.

Lin Jiyun and Void both nodded at Kaiser. Knowing Xin Jietian’s true character, and having been around the Martial Arts World, they probably had already thought about the worst case scenario.

“Then, everyone, please come into the building and allow me to show you my hospitality as a host.” Xin Jietian laughed and walked into the building, and the door to the building slowly opened.

There were many tables and chairs setup inside, with many gourmet food on the tables. Due to the lack of space in the small building, the servants hurriedly set up tables and chairs outside, then placed food on top of the tables.

Liola immediately held Baolilong, whom began to twist and turn after seeing so much food, and its little mouth began to drool.

After all the high ranking people in every faction exchanged greetings and courtesies, they walked into the building, leaving their apprentices outside. Kaiser immediately grabbed everyone and walked to the table furthest away from the building and sat down.

Nevertheless, due to his position as a young master, Auyan Dri walked in and ignored Kaiser.

“Yulie, come sit with sister apprentice.” Yandi called out to her junior sister apprentice.

Since she knew Kaiser and others thought this was an act of malice, Yandi could not possibly allow her own sister apprentice to walk into such a dangerous building. Yulie obediently walked towards her, while showing an apologetic smile to Auyan Dri.

Auyan Dri frowned, nodded, and walked into the building.

* * *

“Hmm, he did feed us quite a few meals. My conscience feels a bit uneasy to see him walking into the building.” Kaiser scratched his head, but he couldn’t think of an excuse to keep Auyan Dri.

‘Oh well, if anything happens, we could drag him and fly away with us.’

After Kaiser and company sat down, they all stared at the food in front of them. They were all a bit hungry, but after hearing Kaiser’s warnings, no one dared to eat. Everyone were staring blankly at the food, and this situation quickly drew the servants’ attention.

“Do you find these foods unsatisfactory?” A servant asked timidly.

Kaiser had already thought of an excuse, and immediately said, “We’re Taoists, and we’re vegetarians.”

“Taoists?” The servant paused briefly, then hurriedly added, “It’s fine even if you’re vegetarians. We have prepared vegetarian dishes, and we’ll get those out to you as soon as possible.” After saying so, the servant beckoned a few of his colleagues, and began to switch out the dishes.

Kaiser felt an incoming headache. When the servants finished placing the new dishes on the table, should they eat or not? If they don’t, it would draw even more attention. But if they do, even though Kaiser loved food, he loved his life more, and he wasn’t willing to bet his life on food.

“I’ll eat first, then you guys can eat after.” Liola said calmly.

Kaiser glanced at the Assassin, “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Liola estimated, if he only takes one bite, even the strongest poison shouldn’t kill him. He also believed, even if Xin Jietian put poison in these, he wouldn’t do so in every dish. The people gathered here were all Martial Artists, and ordinary poison couldn’t fool them, so it must be some rare poison.

Liola also believed he could definitely determine whether or not there was poison in one bite. After all, poison was a requisite in the Assassin’s toolbox, he just basically never used it.

After the servants switched the dishes, Liola took a steamed bun, thinking it was the hardest thing to poison. Liola took a small bite, then chewed carefully. The bun was indeed tasty, chewy, and it was as soft as cotton. It also had a hint of honey taste…

Liola suddenly realized something, and hurriedly spit out the food from his mouth while throwing the steamed bun on the ground.

This action caused the people in the surrounding tables to freeze. There were also steamed buns on their table, and everyone was happily eating them, even to the point of praising how well-made these buns were.

Seeing Liola’s action, everyone looked at the steamed bun in their hand, with a suspicious looks on their faces. Some people didn’t even know whether to swallow the bun in their mouth or to spit to out.

“Liola?” Kaiser quietly yelled.

Liola looked down at the hand he used to hold the bun and said calmly, “This steam bun has honey. Taoists shouldn’t eat such snacks.”

As soon as Liola explained his actions, the crowd around him returned to their meals while murmuring something about making a big deal out of nothing. Some of them even glared at Liola.

Of course, what Liola said was a lie. Kaiser had eaten plenty of candied fruits back at the Overlook, so obviously there was no rule against Taoists eating sweet snacks.

Other than Yulie, everyone knew the steamed buns were uneatable. Liola decided to cover all the steamed buns, and then said, “Hurry up and eat, we still have other businesses to attend to.”

Kaiser’s eyes flashed, and said immediately, “Right, right, brother apprentice said he’s going to teach me a few moves so I can go win the prized sword. Hurry, we’re almost out of time.” Kaiser immediately picked up his chopsticks and stuffed food into his mouth.

The people around heard what Kaiser said and looked at his young appearance, then laughed. They shook their heads and murmured something about youngsters these days.

The people at Kaiser’s table, on the other hand, were eating quickly. Yulie didn’t know what was going on, and she even said to Liola, “Second brother apprentice, please give us those steamed buns. It would be a waste to throw those away. My sister apprentice and I aren’t Taoists so we can eat them.”

Yandi, however, interrupted, “Sister apprentice! You still want to eat? Look at yourself, you’ve gained so much weight, and you almost have a double chin now!”

Yulie immediately reached to feel her chin, wondering if she had really gotten fatter. Yulie immediately put down her chopsticks and stopped eating.

The young people around them were all glaring at Yulie and Yandi, admiring their beauty. Hearing what Yandi said, they all looked at Yulie’s chin, but they could only see a beautiful chin without any hint of fat. They shook their head as they commented on how Yandi was overreacting.

Kaiser yelled exaggeratedly and vulgarly, and the other people put down their chopsticks and followed, “Second brother apprentice, teach me too! It’s not fair if you only teach younger brother apprentice.”

Kaiser grabbed Liola, and hurriedly dragged him away. Everyone else immediately followed. Yulie was going to stay to wait for Auyan Dri, but Yandi dragged her and followed Liola.

* * *

After they had gone a distance away from the building, Kaiser asked quietly, “What’s wrong?”

Liola didn’t respond, because he was quickly circulating his Ki. Liola reached out his left palm to show something to Kaiser, whom then lowered his head and saw a faint yellow imprint on Liola’s palm, in the shape of a steamed bun.

“Wow, how come I never noticed you had such a special birthmark?”

Liola’s Ki dispersed slightly, and he finally managed to settle his chaotic Ki. He then continued to force the poison out of his body.

Kaiser saw Liola’s face suddenly changed, and knew his joke had gone too far. He waited until Liola’s face looked better before he continued to ask, “What’s the purpose of this poison? Could it kill?”

At this time, Void and Lin Jiyun both hurriedly walked towards Kaiser.

Void said anxiously, “Kaiser, Liola is forcing the poison out, so you can’t talk to him now. Otherwise, something could go wrong and things would be bad.”

In fact, Void really wanted to say, how could someone walk while forcing poison out? Normally, one would have to find a quiet place with guards outside so they could concentrate on forcing the poison out.

“Indeed! Plus, senior couldn’t possibly know what kind of effect the poison has for just one bite.” Lin Jiyun added.

“I know what this poison is for.” Liola started talking, “I know this poison.”

Liola’s voice completely froze Void and Lin Jiyun. He’s forcing poison out while walking and talking? This went against everything they both knew.

“The poison in the steamed bun is just the catalyst. There must be other poison in the other dishes. It’s only useful if they were combined.” Liola said calmly.

“So it would’ve been fine if we didn’t eat the steamed buns?” Kaiser was trying to ask, if it were the case, why did Liola leave hurriedly?

“In time, the poison in the steamed buns would spread through the air, and it would be just as effective.” Liola explained simply.

Void and Lin Jiyun both yelled in surprise, “This poison is truly evil!”

Liola suddenly switch languages, so only Kaiser could understand, “This poison is unique to Shalong Hall. It’s to hypnotize people.”

“Hypnosis? You mean, to control people?” Kaiser was deep in shock.

Liola thought about it briefly, and answered, “It can’t be used to control people for a long time. To put it more accurately, it can be used to create a memory, or delete one.”

The purpose seemed ambiguous. Kaiser didn’t understand why Shalong Hall would go through so much trouble for this. Could they want to brainwash these people? And make everyone believe Shalong Hall was really a saloon?

“The only person who knows of this, is the Leader.” Liola threw out this bomb of an information, one that could make him run away.

Kaiser swore secretly, and then began to run faster than Liola. He knew full well that all Liola’s crazy Kung Fu was taught by the man known as the Leader. Since apprentice was already so powerful, the master must be inhumane, so why would he stay?

“What are you saying?” Though Void knew the two of them were purposely using language they didn’t understand, but seeing they were running away from the building, he wondered if those two planned on leaving this place.

“If you keep talking instead of running, you guys are going to turn into human meat buns.” Kaiser said with a darkened face.

Kaiser said straightforwardly, “If Shalong Hall isn’t the culprit to this poisoning, they would be the accomplice.”

Hearing this, everyone’s face changed.

Kaiser said directly, “But since none of the Martial Artists present would believe us, plus the Leader of Shalong Hall could very well be here, we have no choice but run because we can’t possibly handle him.”

“What? Kaiser, how the hell do you know all this?” Void asked in shock.

“Because Liola is, more than a year ago, a person who should be dead but isn’t — the Assassin Silver Moon.” Yandi threw down another bomb.

She turned to Liola and said, “We can’t just leave those Martial Artists there, they are practically the backbone of the entire Martial Arts World. If they are controlled by Shalong Hall, everything will be disastrous.”

“They wouldn’t be controlled. They might have some memories altered.” Liola forced some patience and explained. In fact, he would rather get away from the Leader as far as possible. He knew very well, he would never be a match for the Leader, even with Baolilong and Kaiser.

“We still can’t do that!” Yandi became more impatiently, “Come back with me and resolve this.”

“I can’t win against the Leader, neither can you.” Liola said angrily.

Yandi answered coldly, “Even if we can’t, we have to try. If the whole Martial Arts world is in the hands of Shalong Hall, neither of us could run away.”

“If you want to go back, then go, Liola can’t possibly do that.” Kaiser reached out his arm and stood between Yandi and Liola, and said angrily,

“With Liola’s identity, if he goes back, Shalong Hall would recognize him, and do you think he could possibly walk out alive? When his identity as the top Assassin is revealed, no one in the entire Martial Arts World would help him.”

Yandi was about to say something as a comeback, but when she looked at Liola, she was shocked by the expression on his face.

Seeing Yandi’s reaction, Kaiser also curiously looked at Liola. He saw Liola was staring in front of him, and he looked completely stunned.

Kaiser also noticed the Assassin’s hands were trembling slightly. This discovery made Kaiser pull out his gun unconsciously. What could it possibly be… to make the Assassin fear unconsciously?

Void, Lin Jiyun, and Yulie were all still trying to recover from discovering Liola’s identity. When they saw the top Assassin in fear, they all drew their weapons. Even though they didn’t see any enemy, but they had to put up their guards.

A long while later…

“Li, where is my daughter?”

They heard a cold voice. About a dozen feet away from them, a figure appeared out of nowhere.

Chapter 8 : Leader

When they heard the voice, everyone carefully looked around. A peculiar man appeared out of thin air not far away.

The man’s silver hair was fluttering in the wind. His deep, blue eyes were looking at them with disdain. The people who he gazed upon felt as if they were pigs being picked by a butcher.

The man was not how Kaiser imagined him to be. Instead of an old man, he was a handsome man who looked not a day past twenty eight. There wasn’t a hint of modesty in his appearance. The man looked as if he considered himself unparalleled in the world.

He was wearing a strange robe, but his robe only reached down to his waist, and also he wore leathered clothes*, much like what an Assassin would wear at night.

[T/N: It is similar to a ninja-yoroi.]

This man imposed about the same feelings as Auyan Dri, however, Auyan Dri at least bothered to look humble. This man, on the other hand, did not hide anything. His face had the “I’m the Emperor, kneel before me” expression.

“You’re the Leader?” Kaiser couldn’t help but ask. ‘Damn. Doesn’t this guy look more like Mr. Stubborn Pants? Why does he not feel all that powerful?’

“And what the hell are you?!” The Leader frowned, then said, “Why is the magic fluctuation around you so familiar?”

Hearing about “magic fluctuation”, Kaiser’s jaws dropped. Until now, he didn’t realize the magic fluctuation around the man in front of his eyes was extremely powerful.

Kaiser was under the impression the man must have been Liola’s master, and therefore thought the power he felt was not magic.

“Who, who are you?” Kaiser asked with a stutter.

“Me? Since you already call Li brother, then you should call me the Leader.” He raised his eyebrows.

“I’m asking, why would you know about magic?” Kaiser also raised his eyebrows. The two looked remarkably similar.

“Why can’t I know about magic? Hahaha, if I don’t know magic, no one else possibly could!”

The Leader laughed in a frenzy. This laugh caused everyone pain in their hearts, especially the less powerful Yulie and Kaiser, whose faces turned completely pale. It wasn’t until now that everyone thought things had gone terribly wrong. The stubborn pants in front of them was actually unfathomably powerful.

After laughing for a while, the Leader said without any worries,

“I’m planning on replacing the trash of an Alliance Leader and becoming one myself. I even had to sell a lot of summoning magic circles so I could test my poison on those idiots. But you, little runt, picked the right time to come back, just when my plan was underway, and you even brought some strange friends with you. So I had to pause my plans just to come find you.”

“Haha, well then you better hurry back to be the new Martial Arts Alliance Leader.” The pale Kaiser laughed dryly a couple times, “You know, it’s not a hurry. It wouldn’t be too late to catch us another day, right?”

The Leader sported a slightly unhappy expression. He pouted a little, and a dozen fireball appeared in midair, all headed towards Kaiser.

Kaiser’s expression immediately changed. He raised his giant gun, and used every last bit of his power to fire the same amount of fireballs, each hitting the incoming fireball. Kaiser’s speed couldn’t possibly match the Leader’s, so the fireballs was just a warning shot from the Leader.

Ten or so explosion happened next to Kaiser, but two of them flew past him. Liola exploded his aura and blocked the two fireballs. Liola’s action made the Leader interested.

Liola’s face went pale. Whenever the Leader showed an expression like this, it had always been the start of a strange experiment. Unfortunately, the guinea pigs for his experiments were often children he caught, and after multiple experiments, there was only one survivor — the person who became the top Assassin.

“You learnt aura?” The Leader laughed, “Don’t tell me you learnt it from the Dragon Emperor? Hmm, the little child next to your feet also looks suspicious. He doesn’t look like an ordinary person.”

As soon as Liola heard the Leader’s words, his eyes widened, and Kaiser’s mouth also formed a big “O”.

They both, especially Liola, thought‘Who the hell is the Leader? How would he know about these things?’

Liola suddenly realized, despite spending twenty years with the Leader, he didn’t know who the Leader really was.

The Leader’s mouth formed an inscrutable smile. He slowly reached out his left hand, and pulled his sleeve back. An eagle-claw like hand slowly opened towards them.

Everyone all took a deep breath and held it. Those fireballs just now were caused by his pouting mouth, and now he even reached out his hand.

‘What kind of ultimate was he going to use? Would they come out of this alive?’

Their minds were filled with the certainty of death…

The Leader’s eyes flashed, and he looked towards his left wrist, “Hmm, it’s 12:45, it’s almost time to go back. If I don’t, the poison will wear off.”

A jewel-adorned watch was hanging on the Leader’s left wrist.

Everyone was stunned.

Kaiser, on the other hand, started swearing, “Hey, are you f—ing serious?! This is a Martial Arts World! Martial arts! What the hell are you doing with a watch? Are you not respecting the world at all?”

The Leader’s face flashed with impatience, “I’ve already used fireballs, what’s so strange with taking out a watch? Didn’t you also pull out a gun? What, you can shoot a gun but I can’t look at my watch?”

Kaiser scratched head, and looked at the gun in his hands. ‘He does have a point…’

When the complex incantation descended, most people fell to the ground. Even Kaiser, with his magical abilities, couldn’t stand for more than a few seconds, and fell. The only ones left standing were two people and a dragon.

“Li, where is Yasha?” The Leader asked again impatiently.

“In the other world.” Liola unconsciously resumed his cold tone of voice, which made Baolilong feel uneasy, so it held onto Liola’s robe.

The Leader frowned, but he didn’t look like he was troubled. He pointed at the people on the ground and said to Liola, “Bring them all back.”

Then, the Leader’s figure disappeared.

* * *

Liola finally snapped out of it and remembered something. Although the Leader had never used magic before him, such as Fireballs or the Coma Magic Circle, but wasn’t his sudden appearance and disappearance identical to Mizerui or Qiusi? He had never thought about what kind of person the Leader was. Liola’s face turned pale.

“Shalong… Hall…” Kaiser next to him suddenly said something. Liola was shocked, but when he looked, Kaiser still had his eyes closed and was drooling. It looked like he was sleeptalking.

After Liola took three trips to carry everyone into the small building, the Leader waved at him, and he walked up to the balcony. At this time, the Leader was already sitting in Xin Jietian’s chair, and was talking to all the martial artists about how the Symposium would proceed.

Seeing Liola was back, the Leader was not surprised, and smiled, “My apprentice is back…”

The Leader turned, with a cold face, “Look friendly. Are you trying to ruin my plans?!”

Liola smiled, while waving at the people under the balcony. He practically looked like a girl who had just won Miss Universe and was returning to her country.

The people under the balcony began to cheer. In the crowd, despite looking slightly puzzled, Auyan Dri still clapped his hands.

“I hereby declare, the start of the Martial Arts Symposium.”

The Leader yelled in his deep voice, but then used his normal voice and said coldly towards Liola, “Follow me.”

Liola quietly walked into the small building. The leader seemed to ignore the fact that the ground was covered with sleeping people, and simply walked over them.

When he reached a table, the Leader waved his hand, and the dull-eyed Xin Jietian walked over, and began to make tea for them.

“Tell me! What did you do in the past year or so over there?” The Leader said lazily, as if he was prepared to listen to a story.

Liola acted like an obedient child, and began to tell him everything he had done since he reached the other world… or perhaps not everything.

Everything Liola deemed unimportant, he forgot very quickly. The Leader probably knew his personality, so when his story was halfway through, he extended his foot to kick Kaiser who was still happily sleeping on the ground.

“Stop bugging me.”

Kaiser turned a few times away from the foot, trying to keep sleeping… “OMG! Hot, hot, hot… my mouth is burning!”

Kaiser jumped up, with his tongue out and his hand fanning it. He charged towards the table and picked up the tea Xin Jietian made, and poured it down, then he spit it all out, “Hot, hot, hot!”

The Leader seemed to be happily enjoying the show. He raised his head and laughed.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Kaiser knew his abrupt awakening by spices was undoubtedly caused by this laughing guy in front of him.

“I want you to tell me a story. Hurry, Liola doesn’t know how to tell a good story.” The Leader seemed to be impatiently waiting for some “story”.

“A story?” Kaiser was stunned, not sure if the guy in front of him was the master of the terrifying Assassin, or a bored stubborn pants wanting to hear a bedtime story.

Liola reminded slightly, “Our story.”

Kaiser glanced at Liola, then at the impatient Leader, and he suddenly gave out a sly laugh, “Want to hear a story? Sure! People call me the Story King, every story I’ve ever told has been brilliant, and my listeners always want to hear more.”

“Oh?” The Leader raised his eyebrows, “Then tell me, now.”

“I, Kaiser, have a principle. I would never do anything that doesn’t benefit me!” Kaiser grunted, then tilted his face away from the Leader.

Liola’s irises dilated. He would’ve never imagined Kaiser would be this bold to threaten the Leader.

“Benefit? If you don’t tell me a story, I will take your life!” The Leader said with a cold face.

“Then take my life if you want!” Kaiser continued to act like a brute, “But then you would have to listen to Liola tell the story. This guy, ha, I know him too well. His story must be full of holes, and you would be baffled by it, and it will be boring to the extreme.”

The Leader stood up angrily. His hand patted heavily on the wooden table, and it was pulverized in an instant.

Liola, at this time, practically flashed in front of Kaiser, confronting the Leader in the process. The Leader’s frozen face seemed to soothe slowly. His blue eyes curiously looked at Liola and Kaiser, then he began to laugh.

“Looks like your story will be very interesting. In simply a year or so, you’ve caused Liola to confront me on your behalf? Looks like you did better than Anise.”

The Leader sat down again, and asked if nothing had happened, “What kind of benefit are you looking for?”

Kaiser’s face looked a bit complicated, he asked, “Who are you? And why do you want to be the Alliance Leader?”

The Leader raised his eyebrow, showing a mysterious smile, “That’s all? Okay, then let me tell you, the reason why I want to be the Martial Arts Alliance Leader was for fun.”

‘F-fun?’ Kaiser was stunned.

But Liola was not surprised. The Leader had always been self-absorbed. To “create” the top Assassin, he forced his subordinates to find children with good bone structure. Out of the hundreds of children picked, only one survived, the one the Leader found himself.

“Now, your turn.” The Leader raised the corner of his mouth, “But be careful, if I’m not satisfied, you wouldn’t have to worry about getting the other answer, because even Li could not help you save your life.”

Kaiser shrugged, and began to talk about once upon a time, a black hole suddenly opened in his house, and thus a troublemaker was entangled in his life…

Kaiser’s memory was surely much better than Liola’s, and at the same time, he included many different people’s point of view. Even if he wasn’t there for parts of the story and asked Liola to tell it, Kaiser would remind him on the side with “Did so-and-so happen?”, “You seem to be forgetting…”, etc. He let Liola remember quite a few “unimportant” things, which made the story much more complete.

Kaiser also carefully observed the Leader’s response. He initially relished the story. When he heard Mizerui’s name, a light flashed across his eyes. Kaiser felt this man must know of Mizerui.

Barbalis’ name also made the Leader raise the corner of his mouth. When they talked about Blood Wolf and Lancelot, the Leader’s face had a disdained look. Finally, the most obvious sign had to be when they spoke of the Dragon Emperor. The Leader’s face was cold like an ice cube, and his blue eyes looked like they were about to shoot fire.

‘There must be hatred between the Dragon Emperor and him, definitely! Even a blind person could tell based on the change of temperature around them.’ Kaiser thought.

After they were done with the story, Kaiser asked anxiously, “How’s that, wasn’t it a good story?”

The Leader frowned, as if he was deep in thought about something. He grabbed the Dragon Cross Necklace from Liola’s chest. The necklace emitted a slight white light.

Liola was a bit worried, but when he saw the Leader was simply examining the necklace and had no intention of destroying it, Liola had no choice but to let him do so. Unless it was the last resort, Liola did not want to start a fight with the Leader.

It would be a fight where he was not confident on winning.

Kaiser, standing next to them, was curiously looking at what the Leader was doing. He sensed the Leader sent a bit of magic into the necklace, and the necklace responded with a bit of magic as well.

‘They are communicating?’ Kaiser had a strange thought, ‘A person communicating with a necklace?’

The Leader’s eyes suddenly changed. It changed so quickly that Liola didn’t even have a chance to react when the Leader sent him flying with a palm strike. When Liola was about to break through the wall and fly out, the Leader immediately grabbed him back. The sudden change in movement made Liola fall to the ground, with blood oozing out of his mouth.

“Papa!” Baolilong, who had been unusually quiet, was shocked. But surprisingly, it didn’t try to bite the Leader. Instead, it was holding the Assassin’s shoulder, with large tear drops coming out of its eyes.

“What are you doing? If you think the story was bad, you should be hitting me. Why are you hitting him instead?”

It seemed like the Leader was going to continue the beating Liola, so Kaiser immediately yelled at him. Knowing who the man was, Kaiser knew it was pointless for him to fight, so he had to try talk him out of it instead.

The Leader glanced coldly at Kaiser, while his feet continued to kick Liola. Although Liola could have dodged, he knew he shouldn’t. He knew the Leader was just giving him a lesson due to an unknown reason. But if he fights back, it would become a battle to death, and Liola firmly believed he would not be the victor.

“Because he is the Dragon Emperor’s son. I actually saved that bastard’s son, and even taught him Kung Fu!”

The Leader became even more furious, and began to punch and kick the Assassin at the same time. Every attack carried Ki, so he wasn’t faking. Liola had to use his Ki to protect himself, although it may infuriate the Leader, because if he didn’t, Liola was worried that he might die from it.

Kaiser looked anxious, but he knew if those attacks landed on him, he would’ve already died. His mind scrambled for a plan, and finally he yelled,

“Stop! How do you know both magic and aura? Are you a Sorcerer or a Knight?”

This certainly caught the Leader’s attention. He reached out a hand and grabbed Kaiser’s neck, then said coldly, “Neither! I am a Magician, understood? Magician!”

“Then what’s with the aura?” Kaiser was suffocating, but he continued to speak. For some reason, Kaiser knew if he shut up he would die even faster.

The Leader let go of Kaiser, but did not forget to kick Liola a few more times. On one hand, a white fireball appeared, and he played with it by throwing it up and down. On his other hand, a blue aura was emitted. This blue, of course, was different from the signature of Blue Knights. It looked like an ocean blue that could drown anyone who looks at it.

The Leader gave out another frenzied laugh, “Because I am the real genius! There are only things I don’t want to learn, and nothing I couldn’t learn!”

Kaiser coughed as he glanced at Liola on the ground. He was certain he saw despair in the Assassin’s eyes.

Kaiser glared at Liola, then spun his mind again. ‘Liola is the Dragon Emperor’s son? Where did that conclusion come from?‘

Kaiser asked with difficulty, “Liola… how can he be the Dragon Emperor’s son? His age doesn’t fit, and he doesn’t look like him either.”

“Idiot!” The Leader replied coldly, but still answered Kaiser’s question, “The age does fit. This man is not really twenty-five, but twenty. The five years had been aged by the thing in the necklace.”

“So… they were triplets?” Kaiser pondered.

“No, twins.” The Leader explained impatiently, “Idiot! There was no Anise. There were only the person on the ground and a girl named Lanski.”

Liola froze on the ground. His entire body was trembling, hoping he had never heard of it, and prayed the Leader was lying…

“How can it be possible for there to be no Anise?”

Kaiser was shocked, while worriedly glanced at the Assassin on the ground. He thought it was over. Would Liola kill himself before the Leader even bother to kill him?

“Because Anise is the White Dragon inside the necklace, an illusion designed to fool the idiotic Dragon Emperor!” The Leader said with gritted teeth.

Because he hadn’t given much thought to Anise’s identity, he even sent Liola to find her. Now that he thought about it, perhaps the person who ordered a hit on Anise was actually Anise herself! He was furious.

“You are lying!”

Liola suddenly stood up, rage and disbelief filled his eyes. But if one would look deeper, they would see the deep despair in his eyes…